There is considerable variation across countries in terms of the change
in annual emissions of greenhouse gases since 1995. The data show the
percentage change in annual GHG emissions between 1995 and 2014.
(to land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF); Source: Adapted from World Resources Institute. Data are GHG emissions, including those duewww.wri.org.)
One important lesson from Figure 17-7 is that the mere act of signing an
international treaty and committing to a specific outcome does not
guarantee the achievement of that outcome. Without effective policies
being put in place, emissions reductions are unlikely to occur. We say
more about specific policies below.
Recent UN Agreements
Some countries achieved their Kyoto targets while many did not. By the
time the Kyoto Protocol expired in 2012, however, it was increasingly
clear to most countries that subsequent phases of international actions to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions needed to include participation by the