The Kyoto Protocol – a global response to a global crisis

On Wednesday 16 February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into force after the Russian government ratified the Protocol in December 2004. The Kyoto Protocol remains the only legally binding multi-lateral agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with industrialised countries responsible for reducing emissions in the first commitment period. However, the Australian government still refuses to ratify this agreement and along with the United States of America remain the only Annex I countries of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change to not ratify the Protocol.

The Australian Government needs to act as a responsible global citizen by joining in this important collective initiative to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change and its devastating effects around the world.

Background

After the ratification in 1994 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), negotiations took place to reach an international agreement on binding targets of reductions of greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), created in 1988 and composed of over 2,000 scientific and technical experts from around the world, had produced two comprehensive assessments during the 1990’s. The second of these established scientific consensus in late 1995 that human activity, in particular the use of fossil fuels in highly-industrialised countries, was affecting the global climate by significantly changing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.

In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was proposed, obliging the industrialised countries to achieve by the end of the first commitment period in 2012 an average reduction of 5.2% of carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 levels, well below the level that scientists estimated would be necessary to even stem – let alone reverse – the trends of global warming. The agreement met with much opposition, and downright resistance and refusal on the part of the USA. In 2001 a compromise was reached which would allow the Protocol to be ratified by a sufficient number of the 178 countries which had signed on to it.

A particular condition of the agreement was that a certain number of highly-industrialised countries (called Annex 1 nations in the Protocol), contributing to the equivalent of at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions by these countries would need to ratify for it to come into force, and this level of commitment has now occurred.

Most analysts of global climate change agree that, in terms of addressing the impact, the Kyoto Protocol represents, in reality, not more than a small beginning. However, its significance lies in the fact that it represents a first binding international treaty on this critical issue, and provides the basis for further efforts.

On World Environment Day 2002 the Australian Government announced that it would not be ratifying the Protocol, and it has continued to hold to this stance, thereby distancing itself from this important international effort to address a truly global problem. In the meantime, Australia has acquired the unenviable reputation of being the highest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases in the world!

The reality of climate change is that the countries of the global south which historically have not produced significant greenhouse gas emissions such as Small Island States of the Pacific and northern African countries, are the most vulnerable to climate change. The simple fact remains; our pollution is threatening the livelihoods and sovereignty of these peoples. As human beings we have a responsibility to call out political leaders to account and ensure that Australia is not recorded as one of the two nations which did not participate in the international response to reducing the impact of climate change.

In Australia itself we are made aware almost daily of the effects of global warming on our environment. News of its impact in other parts of the world, whether in terms of the accelerated melting of polar ice or extreme-weather-related disasters is also becoming more frequent. Much of this, we now realise, hinges on decisions not taken 30 or more years ago.

Responding to the recent ratification of the Protocol by the Russian Parliament, Klaus Toepfer, the Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) remarked that, ‘while only the first step in a long journey towards stabilising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, the Kyoto Protocol is the international instrument for addressing global warming’.

If you are outraged about the Australian government’s stance on Kyoto – then do something with your rage! Please tell your federal MP that you believe Australia should act as a responsible global citizen and take the necessary steps to include our nation in this important collective initiative.

Written by Wendy Flannery

Climate Justice Collective

Friends of the Earth Brisbane