BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.
The protocol, which supplements and strengthens the UNFCCC, sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union (EU) for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The major difference between the protocol and the UNFCCC is that the convention encourages developed nations to control GHG emissions, while the protocol, a legally binding document, aims to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the convention.
The protocol, which took effect in February 2005, has been ratified by 184 parties to the UNFCCC. However, the United States withdrew from the protocol in March 2001.
Under the protocol, developed countries would reduce their collective greenhouse emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels during the first commitment period (2008-2012).
National targets range from 8 percent reduction for the EU to 7percent for the U.S., and 6 percent for Japan and Canada.
The emission cut targets of the developed countries during the second commitment period running from 2012 to 2020 will be the main topic for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It is noteworthy that many media reports have said that the protocol would expire in 2012 and have be to replaced by a new agreement, which is a misunderstanding.
In fact, the Kyoto Protocol is a long-standing agreement, and what is going to expire is not the protocol but only its first commitment period.
In recent years however, some developed countries have expressed dissatisfaction with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" set up in the UNFCCC, demanding that the developing countries should also commit themselves to the binding targets on emission cuts.
The protocol introduced three flexible mechanisms for reaching the emission reduction targets, namely, emission trading, clean development and joint implementation mechanisms.
The six greenhouse gases addressed by the protocol are: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
