Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Kyoto Protocol Day

Kyoto Protocol Day is celebrated on February 16 - the day in 2005 when it became legally binding.  It is an amendment to a treaty passed at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and aims to cut green house emission from the industrialized world by 5.2% by 2012.  More than 150 countries have signed the treaty, and the U.S. is the only industrialized nation not to have.

The protocol states that developed countries must reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by at least 5% below their 1990 levels.  Not meeting this standard would result in a fine.

Developing countries do not have to lower their emissions because, quite simply, they don't produce that much. They were, however, given tradable carbon credits to encourage them to reduce emissions.
(Source)

Celebration ideas:
Hmmm. This is a hard one… Learn about the Kyoto Protocol? Send a letter [to the government?] asking them to pressure President Obama into signing?

Happy Kyoto Protocol Day!

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