The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol
In this paper, I will argue that The Kyoto Protocol is an effective way to set obtainable short and long term goals of Greenhouse Gas emission levels on an international level and should be ratified by The United States of America. Furthermore, I will also recommend the adoption of the European Union proposal in the post-Kyoto conference.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) targeted at fighting global warming. The treaty was signed with the goal of achieving the stabilization of non-threatening levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the earth’s atmosphere. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This amounts to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
Benchmarking (or targets) is the setting of emission reduction commitments as a percentage reduction in emissions measured against past emissions.   In the Protocol, 1990 was chosen as the year for emission reduction commitments to be measured against. 1990 was the year in which all governments formally recognized climate change as a serious issue. Proposals were made to shift the year forward to 1995, but these were rejected on the grounds that such a change would reward those countries that had done nothing to limit emissions since the Convention process was established.
During the Clinton Administration, The United States signed the Protocol on November 12, 1998. However it was not ratified due to the overwhelming opposition in the United States Senate. In late March 2001, the Bush Administration rejected the Kyoto Protocol, saying that more research was needed before any policies were undertaken. In February, 2002, President Bush announced a U.S. policy for climate change that will rely on voluntary domestic participation to...