Implementing the Kyoto Protocol

Abstract

In this thesis I have endeavored to provide a succinct but comprehensive overview of the Kyoto Protocol and the legal implications that have been the subject of much arduous discussion, both on the legal and on the political front. The importance of the Kyoto Protocol becomes self-evident when one realises that the 'UN Framework Convention on Climate Change' provided a turning point in environmental law but was unable to create any substantive commitments that would have a tangible impact. Several thesis and books have been written on the subject of international environmental law, particularly with regard to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, however, given the current nature of the Kyoto Protocol, very little comprehensive coverage exists, save for the UNFCCC website and articles regularly published by several newspapers and journals. Consequently, a considerable proportion of my work is based upon UN documents and primary sources of information relating to the negotiations. The technical background to the substantive ‘spects of this field of law may appear daunting to the reader who is not versed in these matters, however, in writing this thesis I have taken pains to deal with the subject from a purely legal perspective, giving the minimum indispensable scientific information necessary. Possibly, the most arduous aspect of writing this thesis was the ongoing nature of its subject matter. Being that that Kyoto Protocol is still under negotiation, I had to decide to draw a line at some point of my research. My contribution deals with all developments up until the end of March 2001, when the Bush administration of the US announced that they would be backing out of the Kyoto Protocol and instead would propose a new framework in time for an international conference on global warming to be held in Bonn, Germany, in July.1The Kyoto Protocol stands frozen in expectation of these new developments. It is advisable to have a copy of the texts of the 1992 'UN Framework Convention on Climate Change' and of the 1997 'Kyoto Protocol' at hand while reading this thesis.