Editorial note

The Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted by the third conference of the parties in December 1997. Negotiations for a protocol to the Convention commenced in 1995 after the first conference of the parties, meeting in Berlin, determined that the commitments provided for in Article 4(2)(a) and (b) of the Conventionwere ‘not adequate’ and decided to launch a process to strengthen the commitments of Annex I parties through the adoption of a protocol or another legal instrument. Negotiations were to be conducted as a matter of urgency with a view to adopting the results at the Third conference of the parties in 1997. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the Third conference of the parties and opened for signature on 16 March 1998. The Kyoto Protocol commits Annex I parties to quantified emissions reductions and a timetable for their achievement. The basic obligation accepted by the Annex I parties is set out in Article 3(1). It provides that Annex I parties ‘shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do not exceed their assigned amounts’. The ‘assigned amounts’ are calculated pursuant to each party's quantified emission limitation and reduction commitment inscribed in Annex B. Annex I parties must implement their obligation under Article 3(1) ‘with a view to reducing their overall emissions of [Annex A] gases by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012’.