Has the Kyoto Protocol Made Any Difference to Carbon Emissions?
Under the Kyoto protocol most developed nations other than the US committed themselves to targets for cutting or slowing their emissions of the key greenhouse gases that cause climate change. The targets varied between nations. Some were allowed to increase their emissions by a certain amount; others were required to make significant cuts. The average target was a cut of around 5% relative to 1990 levels by 2012 (or more accurately 2008–12). But the first phase of Kyoto, the only international binding treaty on emissions cuts, has failed to slow global carbon emissions.