Pros & Cons of The Kyoto Protocol? 10pts. MOST INFO/BEST ANSWEr?

Question

its for a school debate about the pros and cons of the kyoto protocol

please give accurate information

thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

The Kyoto Protocol established a list of man-made carbon dioxide sources, and a list of known (at the time) carbon dioxide sinks.  The treaty establishes production limits (from the recognized sources), and overage penalties.  Units of carbon dioxide sequestered in the recognized sinks can be used to reduce the number of carbon dioxide units produced. The protocol also provides a mechanism by which carbon production units can be traded.  It also provides exceptions, or surplus carbon units for 3rd world and developing nations.

The production limits are the causes of problems in developed nations.  Under the treaty, these nations typically far exceed their allowable carbon dioxide production quota.  The costs of exceeding this quota (penalties, offset trading) are quite high, which results in artificially high energy costs.  Many European countries pay astronomical energy costs simply because they have chosen to.  

Furthermore, these countries are expending large sums to utilize "alternative" electricity sources, even though these sources are far more expensive than the power sources they have now (even with the penalties).  Frequently, these sources also cause more environmental harm than the carbon dioxide production they offset.  For example, hydro-electric power is expensive (large initial outlay) and it turns thousands of acres of vital habitat into a lake.  Nuclear is also extremely expensive, and does have some environmental risks.

The carbon credit trading has also caused an environmental catastrophe in the 3rd world countries that were supposed to benefit from it.  Do not be mistaken, those 3rd world governments do receive a hefty sum of cash, but they do it at the cost of their people and their environment.  For example, the Kyoto Protocol recognizes eucalyptus plantations (and other forest plantations) as a carbon sink, but it does not recognize forest preservation as a sink.  The result is that 3rd world countries are destroying rain forests to create plantations which they can use for carbon credit trading.   They also frequently chase peasant farmers off of their lands without compensation for the same purpose.

This is just a sampling.  Hopefully you'll find some other tips.

Oh, and Pros.... If the objective is to make energy more expensive, and dictators more wealthy, then the Kyoto Protocol has succeeded brilliantly.  I generally feel these are bad things, so I can only conclude Kyoto has no Pros.

Answer 2

kyoto is bad, very very bad. All kyoto would do is create restrictions our government couldn't reach resulting in higher taxes, inflation, political unrest, and socialism.

go to-

http://www.youtube.com/skyrish99

Answer 3

Kyōto Protocol, international treaty adopted in 1997 that sets concrete targets for developed countries to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, also known as climate change. The Kyōto Protocol is a supplementary treaty to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and went into force in February 2005. More than 130 countries are party to it, with this figure set to rise; so far, however, the United States has refused to ratify the treaty.

Under the Kyōto Protocol, developed, or industrialized, countries are subject to legally binding commitments to curb their emissions of the six main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. The targets are based mostly on the emission levels of these pollutants in 1990. In general the treaty calls for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels. The target goals must be accomplished by 2012, and commitments to start achieving the targets begin in 2008. Developing countries—that is, most countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—are only subject to general commitments.  

The Kyōto Protocol is a flexible treaty, allowing individual governments to decide what specific policies and reforms to implement to meet their commitments. It also allows countries to offset some of their emissions by increasing the carbon dioxide absorbed, or sequestered, by trees and other vegetation. However, eligible sequestration activities, and the amount of offsetting allowed, are tightly controlled.  

In addition, the Kyōto Protocol established three market-based mechanisms to help bring down the costs of lowering emissions. These mechanisms are known as joint implementation, the clean development mechanism (CDM), and emissions trading. Under joint implementation and the CDM, a country can invest in a project to curb emissions in another country, where it is cheaper to do so, and thereby acquire the resulting credit to offset against its own target. Under emissions trading, a country that exceeds its own target of lowering emissions can transfer the surplus credits to another country that is finding it more difficult to reduce its emissions. Developing countries can participate, but only through the CDM. Safeguards are in place to ensure that emission credits are genuine.  

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Developed countries are subject to stringent reporting requirements, and a compliance committee considers any suspected noncompliance. Countries commit to achieve a certain level of their target goal beginning in 2008. Any country that fails to meet its emissions target may be penalized by having to meet a proportionally higher target for the following commitment period and by having to prepare an action plan to show how emissions will be reined in.  

The entry into force of the Kyōto Protocol was delayed for several years while countries finalized its details. A package of decisions, known as the Marrakech Accords, was finally agreed to in 2001, setting out in detail how the protocol’s rules and mechanisms will work. Implementation is now underway, with the CDM already operational. Many businesses are especially keen to participate in the market mechanisms, and the European Union (EU) launched a regional emissions trading system in January 2005. Meeting the protocol’s targets, however, will be a challenge for many countries.  

Talks are due to start soon on next steps in the international effort to control climate change. Key controversial issues will include when and how to negotiate stronger commitments for developing countries, and how to secure the participation of the United States. Under the administration of Democratic president Bill Clinton, the United States supported the protocol but never submitted it to Congress for ratification because of opposition from the Republican Party. When Republican George W. Bush became president in 2001, the United States withdrew its support for the protocol. Bush claimed that the treaty would harm the U.S. economy and was unfair to industrialized nations because developing countries were not required to control their emissions.

try these websites kyotoprotocol.com , unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.ht...

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement reached in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan to address the problems of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, and after a Parliamentary debate formally ratified it in December 2002. The Liberal government at the time agreed to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by the five-year commitment period of 2008 to 2012. The Canadian Conservative government elected in January 2006 says that the Kyoto Protocol targets are unrealistic and unachievable. The government plans to focus on developing "made-in-Canada" solutions, to spend all money for the environment on the Canadian environment rather than on international credits, and to put the emphasis on the development and deployment of clean technology.

Latest Developments

CBC reports that 40 percent of the climate change budgets at Environment Canada and Natural Resources have been cut. Programs cut include the One Tonne Challenge, a high-profile public education campaign on climate change, and the popular EnerGuide Retrofit Incentive Program of grants to help make Canadian homes more energy-efficient.

Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Rona Ambrose have been expressing interest publicly in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, also called AP6 or Kyoto Lite, as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol.

Rona Ambrose has come under fire from both political and environment opponents who say she is trying to sabotage negotiations on the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol.

Background

The Kyoto Protocol is a UN-led international agreement reached in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan to address the problems of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol went into force in February 2005.

The Kyoto Protocol involves moving away from fossil fuel energy sources - oil, gas, and coal - to renewable sources of energy - hydro, wind and solar power - and to less environmentally harmful ways of burning fossil fuels.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are mainly generated by burning fossil fuels. Higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming and climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol commits 38 industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2008-2012 to overall levels that are 5.2 percent below 1990 levels. Targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction were established for each industrialized country. Developing countries including China and India were asked to set voluntary targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

The Canadian target for the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six percent below their 1990 levels by 2012.

The United States did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and in February 2002 introduced the Clean Skies and Global Climate Change initiatives, in which targets for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are linked directly to GDP and the size of the U.S. economy.

In April 2005, the Liberal government issued a revised implementation plan and pledged $10 billion to cut greenhouse gases by 270 megatonnes a year by 2008-2012. Emission targets for large industrial polluters were relaxed.

During the 2006 federal election campaign the Conservatives said they did not support the Kyoto Protocol. However, since winning the election with just a minority, the Conservative government members have been a little more circumspect in their comments, and instead talk about the targets being unrealistic or unachievable.

Continue: What Supporters and Opponents Sa

What Supporters Say

Supporters of Canada's participation in the Kyoto Protocol say:

Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Canada in 2002 set legally binding targets for Canada for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Deeper emission targets will be needed after 2012 if the objective of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a safe level is to be met.

Canada can reduce greenhouse gases more cheaply if it works within the context of an international system.

The Kyoto Protocol benefits by having Canada as a presence in North America.

The benefits of the Kyoto Protocol outweigh the costs.

The costs of not acting include the costs of droughts, floods and poor health.

Canada would lose international credibility and create foreign policy problems for itself if it withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol.

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What Opponents Say

Opponents to Canada's participation in the Kyoto Protocol say:

Without the United States in the Kyoto Protocol, the problem of emissions can't be addressed seriously.

What is needed is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without a heavy cost in economic development and jobs.

Kyoto Protocol targets must be more realistic and achievable.

Greenhouse gas emission targets should recognize a nation's special circumstances, for example whether it has a resource-based economy like Canada, its temperature, and distance between urban centres.

Greenhouse gas emission targets should be mandatory for developing co