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Data Analyis

Kyoto and Europe: Who’s On Target?

Cosmologist, Stephen Hawkins’ warning that "climate change is the biggest threat facing humankind” is a bleak one for our pale blue dot. Since the turn of the millenium, six of the ten warmest years on record have been witnessed. Sea levels have also risen in the same period, with a 32 milimetre surge owing much to Greenland ceding 1000 cubic kilometers of ice to the sea in less than four years. It is this unequivocal evidence that empowers the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. So as it nears the end of its first phase, who exactly is on target?

What Is It?

Envisaged in 1992 and adopted five years later, the Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement established by the United Nations that commits states to set binding emissions reduction targets. However, it was not until February 16th, 2005 when the protocol was officially entered into force. 

How it Works

Kyoto’s beating heart is a catalogue of compulsory greenhouse-gas emission reductions for each participating nation. Reduction commitments vary from nation to nation, ranging from -8% to +10%. 

 

The widespread support that the protocol enjoys in Europe is partially thanks to its flexibility. Kyoto isn't all about emissions reduction. If necessary, its 30 European nations can invest substantial amounts in carbon offset programmes such as forestry plantations or overseas greenhouse reduction projects. From here, a web of international panels monitor and referee the participants cooperation with the protocol.

 

Is it Working?

Yes and no. Apart from placing climate change on the international agenda for the first time in modern history, Europe’s emissions reached its lowest level in since 1990 in 2012 – despite experiencing a 171% growth in Gross Domestic Product during the same period. The bump chart above gives an overview of this reduction process.

 

Outside Europe however, developing nations such as China, Brazil and India enure that global greenhouse gas levels are rocketing towards record highs.

 

Delving Deeper

Even when considering Europe alone, it would be erroneous to generalize an agreement as intricate as Kyoto and an issue as significant as climate change. There is a wealth of issues at stake here: were carbon offsets a mistake? Are emissions and economic activity intrinsically linked? What is the cost of these carbon offsets to you? To find out more, explore the interactive visualization below.

 

Slowly Does It: Europe's Emissions Reduction

Explore...

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