Bonn, 18 November 2004 – The 90-day
countdown to the Kyoto Protocol’s entry into force was triggered today by the
receipt of the Russian Federation’s instrument of ratification by the United
Nations Secretary-General. The Protocol will become legally binding on its 128
Parties on 16 February 2005.
"A period of uncertainty has closed.
Climate change is ready to take its place again at the
top of the global agenda," said Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of
the Climate Change Secretariat, which
services the UN Climate Change Convention and its Kyoto Protocol.
"Next month’s ministerial conference in
Buenos Aires will provide the next major opportunity
for governments, businesses and civil society to promote the innovative new
policies and technologies that will create
the climate-friendly economy of the future," she said.
The Protocol’s entry into force means that
from 16 February 2005:
1) Thirty industrialized countries will be
legally bound to meet quantitative targets for reducing
or limiting their greenhouse gas emissions.
2) The international carbon trading market will
become a legal and practical reality. The Protocol’s
"emissions trading" regime enables industrialized countries to buy and
sell emissions credits amongst themselves;
this market-based approach will improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of
emissions cuts.
3) The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will
move from an early implementation phase to
full operations. The CDM will encourage investments in developing-country
projects that limit emissions while
promoting sustainable development.
4) The Protocol’s Adaptation Fund,
established in 2001, will start preparing itself for assisting
developing countries to cope with the negative effects of climate change.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized
countries are to reduce their combined emissions of
six major greenhouse gases during the five-year period 2008-2012 to below 1990
levels. The European Union, for example, is
to cut its combined emissions by eight percent, while Japan should
reduce emissions by six percent. For many countries, achieving the Kyoto targets
will be a major challenge that will require
new policies and new approaches.
