Keywords
Kyoto Protocol, climate change, mitigation, greenhouse gas emissions, environment
Abstract
When the Kyoto Protocol was signed in December 1997, there were high hopes in some quarters that it marked the beginning of a global commitment to climate change mitigation. In the past seven years, however, the Protocol has languished while many of the kev, States have done little to implement it. Until the fall of 2004 it was uncertain whether the Protocol would ever enter into force. To the surprise of many, with ratification by Russia, it came into effect on February 16, 2005, only three years before the start of the first period of commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. This comment marks the occasion of the entry into force of the Protocol. The author considers Bruce Pardys recent critique of the Protocol in the Journal of Environment Law Pardy is one of the minority of academic writers who maintain the Protocol is so fundamentally flawed that we would make more progress without it. The author challenges Pardo s arguments and concludes that the Protocol may prove to be the most crucial step toward an effective international response to climate change.
Recommended Citation
Meinhard Doelle, "The Kyoto Protocol: Reflections on its Significance on the Occasion of its Entry into Force" (2004) 27:2 Dal LJ 555.
