Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty adopted on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It committed industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by agreed amounts, on average by about five percent below 1990 levels during the first commitment period of 2008 to 2012. Developing countries were not given binding targets, on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The treaty entered into force in 2005 after Russia ratified it. The United States signed it but never ratified it, and Canada later withdrew. It created mechanisms such as emissions trading, and was followed by the Paris Agreement of 2015, which covers nearly all countries.

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