On
January 24, 2017, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to ratify the amended
Kyoto Protocol that is set to expire in 2020. So far, just 75 countries have
ratified the Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol, which covers the period
2012-2020. This number of ratifications falls far short of the 144 needed to
bring it into force. Thus, India’s action is only a token measure to put
pressure on developed countries to deliver on climate change commitments.
The
government’s press note said, “Implementation of Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) projects under this commitment period in accordance with sustainable
development priorities will attract some investments in India as well.”
The
Kyoto Protocol provided for emissions trading and this encouraged several firms
in India to retrofit their polluting plants with newer technology in the hope
of earning carbon credits. After an initial spike, however, carbon credit
prices crashed to rock-bottom prices.
Given
the fact that the US never signed the Kyoto protocol and the new President,
Donald Trump, denies the very idea of climate change, the Kyoto Protocol is as
good as dead.
This post relates to Chapter 13 of the book.
This post relates to Chapter 13 of the book.
Respected sir,
ReplyDeleteWhat is difference between Amended Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement ?
My sincere apologies for the delay in replying to your question. In the initial months of this blog, there were hardly any comments or questions and so I stopped looking for them. Sorry!
DeleteAnswer to your question: The Amended Kyoto Protocol, which is to expire on December 31, 2020, has not been ratified by the required number of countries and is as good as dead. Meanwhile, the Paris Agreement, which only requires voluntary emission reductions, came into force on November 4, 2016, since enough number of countries ratified it. If the Parties agree on the work programme of the Paris Agreement, it is likely to be implemented from January 1, 2021.