Kyoto: protocol on climate protection

At the 3rd Conference of the Signatory States to the United Nations Climate Framework Convention held in Kyoto, the so-called Kyoto Protocol on the UN Climate Framework Convention was adopted unanimously, after two years of difficult and complex negotiations, on December 11, 1997. The protocol for the first time includes legally binding obligations for the industrialized countries requiring them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2012 by a total of 5.2% relative to the 1990 level. In meeting this obligation, the industrialized countries assumed different levels of reduction and limitation, respectively. Thus, e.g., the EU countries accepted a Communitywide reduction by 8%, while the USA is obliged to reduce by 7% and Japan by 6%. (orig.)