The Kyoto Protocol Its Economic Implications

A Congressional hearing on the Kyoto Protocol, on the costs of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2010, & its possible economic implications to the U.S. Witnesses include: Stuart E. Eizenstat, Under Secretary for Economic Business & Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State; & Janet Yellen, Chair, Council of Economic Advisors. Additional material submitted for the record: Hon. Dan Schaefer, letter dated March 26, 1998, to Hon. Janet Yellen, requesting material for the record, & submission of same.

This book is devoted to the The Kyoto Protocol which is a significant protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases that cause climate change. It was adopted on 11 December 1997 by the 3rd Conference of the Parties, which was meeting in Kyoto, and it entered into force on 16 February 2005. As of June 2008, 182 parties have ratified the protocol. Of these, 36 developed cg countries (plus the EU as a party in its own right) are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified for each of them in the treaty (representing over 61.6% of emissions from Annex I countries), with three more countries intending to participate. One hundred thirty-seven (137) developing countries have ratified the protocol, including Brazil, China and India, but have no obligation beyond monitoring and reporting emissions. "The Kyoto Protocol" separates countries into two groups. Annex I includes developed nations, while Non-Annex I refers to developing countries. Emission limitations are only placed on Annex I countries. Non-Annex I nations participate by investing in projects that lower emissions in their own countries. For these projects, they earn carbon credits. These credits can be traded or sold to Annex I countries, which allow them a higher level of maximum carbon emissions for that period.

Hearing held on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in which the administration agreed to legally binding obligations to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below 1990 levels during the years 2008 to 2011. Witnesses: Sen. Daniel Akaka, Evan Bayh, Jeff Bingaman, Jim Bunning, Conrad Burns, Larry Craig, Peter Fitzgerald, Bob Graham, Chuck Hagel, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Frank Murkowski, & Craig Thomas; Jay Hakes, Admin., U.S. Energy Info. Admin.; Mary Novak, Energy Service, WEFA, Inc., Burlington, MA; Cecil Roberts, United Mine Workers of America; Margo Thorning, Amer. Council for Capital Formation; & Janet Yellen, Council of Economic Advisers.

The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997 was a major achievement in the endeavour to tackle the problem of global climate change at the dawn of the 21st century. After many years of involvement in the negotiation process, the book's two internationally recognised authors now offer the international community a first hand and inside perspective of the debate on the Kyoto Protocol. The book provides a comprehensive scholarly analysis of the history and content of the Protocol itself as well as of the economic, political and legal implications of its implementation. It also presents a perspective for the further development of the climate regime. These important features make this book an indispensable working tool for policy makers, negotiators, academics and all those actively involved and interested in climate change issues in both the developed and developing world.