OP Spotlight : Who Signed, Who Didn't

"When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves."

David Orr, Environmental Educator

Global Warming : Koyoto

In Nairobi, Kenya more than 180 nations at the U.N. climate conference agreed to reach a new deal on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 2008, after conceding to China that developing nations won't be pressed immediately to reduce emissions. But the slow pace in the face of mounting evidence of climate change was a disappointment to many. Environmentalists fear disputes over timetables might delay negotiations so long that the world would be left without emissions caps for some time after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Many African communities are already feeling the effects of a shifting climate. Speaking with reporters, Kenyan environmentalist Sharon Looremetta dismissed the Nairobi meeting as a failure. "Most major issues have been shelved until next year," she said. Her nomadic Maasai people have already been stricken by cattle-killing drought attributable to climate change, Looremetta said, but the countries emitting global-warming gases are doing too little to help. Read More.

The limits on greenhouse-gas emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol are a way of assigning monetary value to the earth's shared atmosphere -- something that has been missing up to now. Nations that have contributed the most to Global Warming have tended to benefit directly in terms of greater business profits and higher standards of living, while not being held proportionately accountable for the damages caused by their emissions. The negative effects of climate change will be felt all over the world. But it is expected that the most severe consequences will actually be in least-developed nations which have produced few emissions.

The Protocol is an attempt to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to below 1990 levels by the year 2012. It was open for signature from March 16, 1998, to March 15, 1999, at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. In order for the treaty to take effect, the countries ratifying it must account for at least 55% of carbon dioxide emissions.

The United States and the Bush administration continue to draw criticism for its refusal to ratify. President Bush refused to ratify the Protocol in 2001, claiming that it would hurt the US economy, costing $400 billion and over 4.9 million jobs. He also labels the agreement unfair because it exempts 80% of the world, including developing countries like China and India . The Harper Government in Canada has now stated it cannot live up to it's Kyoto committment.

Who Signed and Who Didn't
United Nations Status of Ratification
Modified September 06, PDF

 

 

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