What is the goal of the Kyoto Protocol?
The pact’s intention is to jumpstart global efforts to limit emissions of the “greenhouse gases” that warm the Earth. Carbon dioxide, which is a major product of burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, is the greenhouse gas people are most worried about. How does the treaty attempt to curb greenhouse gases? It requires developed countries that have ratified the treaty to reduce emissions, during the years between 2008 and 2012, by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels. For some nations, this translates into a 15 percent reduction below projected 2008 emissions. The protocol also creates a kind of “policy toolbox” for cutting emissions. For example, it encourages countries to set up markets for buying and selling emissions credits. The idea is that a company with low emissions could sell its “clean air” credits to a company with higher emission levels. A similar mechanism allows companies to earn carbon credits by funding projects like solar farms or tree plantations, which soak u
