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International Environmental Agreements and Associations Environmental Overview
the benefits of the Protocol. He also cited the unfair burden on developed nations to reduce emissions,
as another primary reasons for withdrawal from the international pact, as well as insufficient evidence
regarding the science of global warming. Faced with impassioned international disapproval for his
position, the U.S. president stated that his administration remained interested in dealing with the matter
of global warming, but would endorse alternative measures to combat the problem, such as voluntary
initiatives limiting emissions. Critics of Bush's position, however, have noted that it was the failure of
voluntary initiatives to reduce emissions following the Rio Summit that led to the establishment of the
Kyoto Protocol in the first place.
In the wake of the Bush administration's decision, many participant countries resigned themselves to
the reality that the goals of the Kyoto Protocol might not be achieved without U.S. involvement. Nevertheless,
in Bonn, Germany, in July 2001, the remaining participant countries struck a political compromise
on some of the key issues and sticking points, and planned to move forward with the Protocol,
irrespective of the absence of the U.S. The key compromise points included the provision for countries
to offset their targets with carbon sinks (these are areas of forest and farmland which can absorb carbon
through the process of photosynthesis). Another compromise point within the broader Bonn Agreement
was the reduction of emissions cuts of six gases from over 5 percent to a more achievable 2 percent.
A third key change was the provision of funding for less wealthy countries to adopt more
progressive technologies.
In late October and early November 2001, the UNFCC's 7 th Conference of the Parties met in Marrakesh,
Morocco, to finalize the measures needed to make the Kyoto Protocol operational. Although
the UNFCC projected that ratification of the Protocol would make it legally binding within a year,
many critics noted that the process had fallen short of implementing significant changes in policy that
would be necessary to actually stop or even slow climate change. They also maintained that the
absence of U.S. participation effectively rendered the Protocol into being a political exercise without
any substance, either in terms of transnational policy or in terms of environmental concerns.
The adoption of the compromises ensconced within the Bonn Agreement had been intended to make
the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol more palatable to the U.S. In this regard, it failed to achieve its
objective as the Bush administration continued to eschew participation in the international accord.
Still, however, the Bonn Agreement did manage to render a number of other positive outcomes. Specifically,
in 2002, key countries, such as Russia, Japan and Canada agreed to ratify the protocol, bringing
the number of signatories to 178. The decision by key countries to ratify the protocol was regarded
as "the kiss of life" by observers.
By 2005, on the eve of a climate change conference in
London
, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was hoping to deal with the problems of climate change beyond
the provisions set forth in the Kyoto Protocol. Acknowledging that the Kyoto Protocol could not work
in its current form, Blair wanted to open the discussion for a new climate change plan.
Blair said that although most of the world had signed on to
Kyoto
, the protocol could not meet any of its practical goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions without the
participation of the
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