New terms in the Kyoto Climate Protocol, negotiated at the close of UN Climate talks this weekend in Doha, Qatar, have sparked outrage. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have each threatened to leave the Protocol in light of the new amendments which have been made. The amendments obligate each of the countries to adhere to strict carbon caps, which would require carbon emissions to be even lower than they were between 2008-2010.
The three fossil fuel reliant, ex-Soviet states have slammed this decision, saying that such a restriction will limit their future development. Alexey Kokorin, head of Russian clime change program WWF, released a statement expressing his concerns over these new stipulations and their effect on the development of the three states, saying:
“Belarus and Kazakhstan aren’t really developed yet. They have emerging economies and in Kazakhstan’s case, lots of mining potential. They will continue to see emissions growing and will incur a penalty that forces them to buy extra carbon credits so that they are back down to the 2008-2010 levels. That’s not possible. So Belarus and Kazakhstan are essentially excluded from the second period of Kyoto.”
This year’s Doha round marked the 15th year since its inception. The Kyoto Protocol itself is a treaty created in 1997, which binds nearly 40 industrialized countries in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions until the end of 2012. The conclusion of this years round was seen as a “sudden death” moment for many, as the protocol was coming to its close. The weekend in Doha ensured that the Kyoto Protocol will be extended until 2020, but its effectiveness will be diminished as it now it covers less than 15 percent of the world’s emissions – the world’s biggest emission producers (China, India and the USA) have never participated in the treaty. Russia, Canada and Japan have also backed out.
Nearly 200 countries took part in negotiations in Doha on the extension the Kyoto Protocol, of them only 37 supported the agreement.