Keywords
Citation
Lutz, W. (1999), "The Kyoto Protocol: A Guide and Assessment", Environmental Management and Health, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 57-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/emh.1999.10.5.57.1
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Chief United Nations climate official Michael Zammit Cutajar recently said that despite disagreement between Europe and the USA on how to achieve the reductions of greenhouse gas emissions outlined in the Kyoto treaty, he expects a broad deal to emerge by the time the UN hosts the COP‐6 meeting in The Hague at the end of next year. The USA favors making allowances for countries that help poorer countries reduce their emissions, while Europe wants limits to be placed on “emissions trading” to force countries to reduce pollution at home.
This state of affairs and the determination from the side of the UN that a global warming accord be brought to life provide an interesting background which illustrates the timelessness of this book. The Kyoto Protocol: A Guide and Assessment could not have been published at a better time.
As this book clearly emphasises, the Kyoto Protocol marks the beginning of a massive process of economic and political change to limit greenhouse gas emissions and control climate change. Its significance for almost every country in the world is enormous.
This book provides a comprehensive set of information on the agreement. First, it describes the process of preparation of the protocol, which includes the analytic foundations (e.g. science, response options and the IPCC), the political and legal foundations (e.g. national perspectives and the road to Kyoto), the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol per se.
Further on, the book presents an analysis of commitments, mechanisms and prospects, which entails the environmental and economic implications of the Kyoto commitments, the implementation of international transfers under the Kyoto mechanisms and the clean development mechanism.
Finally, its comprehensive list of Appendices is meant to cover the information needs of even the least informed people, enabling them to know all aspects of this complicated agreement and its relevance to attempts to protect the world environment.