320
change research to governments
around the world to help them
understand the threats to humans
and the environment as a result of
climate change.The Kyoto plan
Nine years after the creation of the
IPCC, in 1997, UN members signed
the Kyoto Protocol, which sought to
improve regulation of global carbon
emissions. This protocol was the
first agreement among nations
to mandate country-by-country
reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions, aiming to reduce them
to levels that would stop humans
from negatively impacting the
world’s ecosystems.
Although signed in 1997, the
Kyoto Protocol did not take effect
until 2005. At the end of the first
commitment period in 2012, all
signatory nations had achieved
their target reduction except for
Canada, which withdrew from the
protocol because it could not meet
its targets. Australia also failed to
reduce emissions, but in the initial
period, their target was set as an
8 percent increase. Most nationsare on track to meet their target for
2020, except for Norway, which had
set a very high target (a 30–40
percent reduction from 1990 levels).Paris and the future
The Kyoto Protocols set targets for
nations to meet from 2005 to 2020.
After 2020, signatory nations will
begin to abide by a new protocol:
the Paris Agreement. In November
2016, after decades of calls for aHALTING CLIMATE CHANGE
more aggressive global resolution of
climate change, the Agreement was
signed by 195 UNFCCC member
countries at the UN headquarters
in New York City. Like Kyoto, the
primary aim of the Paris Agreement
is to cut greenhouse gas emissions
to agreed-upon levels.
With the decision of Syria to
sign the Paris Agreement in 2017,
the United States became the only
country in the world not to take
part in the agreement. Although the
US initially signed the agreement
under Barack Obama’s presidency,
his successor, Donald Trump, has
rejected the agreement, claiming
that it asked too much of the United
States and too little of other nations.
This decision struck a blow to the
other signatories; as well as having
plenty of wealth to fund climate
research, the US is also the world’s
second-largest greenhouse gas
emitter. President Trump has since
clarified his position by sayingAn underwater cabinet meeting is
held in the Maldives in 2009 to call for
action against climate change. Rising
sea levels could mean that the nation
is eventually swallowed by the ocean.Climate change denial
Despite the consensus by the
majority of scientists around the
world that climate change is a
human-caused phenomenon and
requires urgent intervention,
climate change denial persists
in many of the world’s most
powerful nations. Several
scholars have termed the
opposition to the facts of climate
change a “denial machine,” in
which conservative media and
industries benefitting from lax
environmental regulations
create an environment of
uncertainty and scepticism
about climate change science.Some scepticism comes from
those who suggest scientists’
estimations are too alarmist,
and that global warming is
happening more slowly than
predicted. Others see the idea
of climate change as a human
phenomenon as a hoax, instead
claiming that global warming is
a natural cycle for the planet
and not a product of human
behavior. Whatever the reason,
denial of climate change among
some policymakers and business
leaders is a position that that
the IPCC and scientists continue
to disprove.US_316-321_Halting_Climate_Change.indd 320 12/11/18 6:26 PM