International Responses (Part 3)
- 1. Contracts signed by two or more countries / countries around the world to work together to deal with climate change Policies implemented by individual countries to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions (1) International Agreements (2) National Responses Responses to Climate Change Goal: Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Case study: Kyoto Protocol Case study: Singapore (a) Successes (b) Limitations (a) Singapore Green Plan 2012 (b) Green Mark Scheme (c) Plant-A-Tree Programme
- 2. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations Even though most participating countries of the Kyoto Protocol succeeded in meeting their emission targets, there were still countries that did not achieve their targets, such as Spain, Austria and Denmark. Many developing countries signed up but did not commit to their targets.
- 3. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations Unfortunately, the USA which is one of the world’s biggest polluters (emit 25% of world emissions), initially signed the protocol but withdrew in 2001. Canada withdrew from the protocol in 2011.
- 4. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations
- 5. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations Overall, global CO2 emissions have showed no sign of slowing down. This is because countries which did not sign the Kyoto Protocol (e.g. the USA, Afghanistan) continued to contribute significantly to global CO2 emissions.
- 6. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations In fact, since 1997, global emissions have increased by 35%, and a large proportion of the increase came from China, India and the USA. Country Change in Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1992 – 2007 India +103% China +150% United States +20% Russian Federation -20% Japan +11% Worldwide Total +38%
- 7. International Response – Kyoto Protocol Limitations This is because the Kyoto Protocol does not make it compulsory for countries with low greenhouse gas emissions to provide support to other countries. For example, countries with low greenhouse gas emissions do not have to provide energy-efficient technology to countries with high greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, countries with high greenhouse gas emissions were not be able to achieve their emission targets as easily.