Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Egypt: The Kyoto Protocol

Miller Hagler

 The Kyoto Protocol
 800px-Kyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2005.png










Fig. 1 Kyoto Protocol Participation Map

     The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty with the aim of reducing carbon emissions. It is considered to be the more formal "second phase"(Rowntree) of the international debate on limiting emissions. It's predecessor, a treaty signed by "167 countries" (Rowntree) at the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, failed to produce significant results in large part due to the fact that it was completely voluntary. It lacked any international legal standing. The Kyoto Protocol however has the backing of international law and allows for the penalization of countries not meeting their reduction goals.
      The Kyoto Protocol was drawn up in 1997 at the conclusion of talks in Kyoto, Japan, however it didn't become official until 2005. This was due to Article 23, which states that the Kyoto Protocol would be ratified when "not less than 55 Parties to the UNFCCC...deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession" (Status). The ratification of Canada and Russia were what finally made official ratification possible. Canada would later become the first country to withdraw.
       Several developed countries became signatories of the Kyoto Protocol, including France, Germany, Japan and, for a time, Canada. Egypt itself became a signatory in 1999, and entered into the treaty in force in 2005 when it became international law. In addition, Egypt concurrently founded the "Egyptian Designated National Authority for Clean Development Mechanism" (Climate). The DNA-CDM has reportedly made "tangible progress in several sectors" (Climate).
       In sum however the efforts of the Kyoto Protocol produced largely underwhelming results. It became clear early on that many industrial countries would not meet their target emission reductions. In addition, conflict between developed and developing countries arose over the concept of carbon inequity, which states that due to their historical role in creating the global warming problem developed countries should bear the brunt of the solution. 
        
 
Works Cited

Rowntree, Les, Martin Lewis, Marie Price, and William Wyckoff. "Chapter 1: Concepts of World       Geography." Globalization and Diversity Geography of a Changing World. Fourth ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2014. Print.

"Status of Ratification." Status of Ratification. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. <http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php>.

 "Climate Change." Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.eeaa.gov.eg/english/main/env_ozone_ecc_neg.asp>.

Figure Sources

 International Agreements Made on Climate Change. Digital image. Flatplanet -. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://flatplanet.wikispaces.com/International agreements made on Climate Change>.

No comments:

Post a Comment