Adoption of the Kyoto Protocol
- Date
- 11 December 1997
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- Kyoto, Japan (Global)
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 11 December 1997, at the third Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Kyoto, Japan, governments adopted the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty to set legally binding greenhouse-gas reduction targets.
Developed ('Annex I') countries agreed to cut their collective emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases by an average of about 5 percent below 1990 levels over the 2008-2012 commitment period, while developing nations took on no binding caps, reflecting the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'. The protocol pioneered market-based mechanisms including international emissions trading and the Clean Development Mechanism. Its ratification proved contentious: the United States, then the largest emitter, signed but never ratified, and the treaty only entered into force on 16 February 2005 after Russia's ratification met the threshold of covering 55 percent of developed-country emissions. Though its real-world impact on global emissions was limited and major emitters remained outside it, Kyoto demonstrated that binding international climate commitments were possible and shaped two decades of subsequent diplomacy.
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Empires active in 11 December 1997
Related politics & governance events
- The end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa27 April 1994 (election); 10 May 1994 (inauguration)
- Dissolution of the Soviet UnionAugust–December 1991
- German reunification3 October 1990
- Fall of the Berlin Wall9 November 1989
- Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe1989 (Autumn of Nations)
- Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)
Further reading
The wider story
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