Figure 17-7 Changes in Annual GHG Emissions, 1995–2014
The countries participating in the Kyoto Protocol agreed to an aggregate -
emissions-reduction target of 5 percent below the 1990 level of emissions
by 2012. Each country also agreed to its own emissions-reduction target
over the same period. But the countries who signed the Protocol were
responsible for only about one-third of global GHG emissions. Notably
absent from the agreement were the developed countries of the United
States and Australia, and the large developing countries of China, India,
and Indonesia.
Performance
Figure 17-7 shows the change in annual GHG emissions for selected
countries between 1995 and 2014. Some countries, including Canada,
have experienced significant increases in their annual emissions, despite
their stated commitments to achieve modest reductions. On the other
hand, many countries have been able to reduce their annual GHG
emissions significantly since 1995. In some cases, such as France, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom, the emissions reductions were achieved despite
continued growth in annual income (GDP) over the 25-year period. In
other cases, however, notably the Russian Federation (and to a lesser
extent Germany), a large part of the emissions reductions were associated
with the steep economic declines that occurred in the late 1990s as the
former Eastern Bloc countries made the difficult transition from centrally
planned to market economies.