When it comes to oil spills, organizations must address two important areas: The cleanup process and business considerations. From a business perspective, environmental accidents can have significant financial ramifications, as well as a negative effect on brand reputation. Crisis management and communications planning must be done before an oil spill occurs. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Adopted in 1997 and coming into force in 2005, the Protocol was designed to combat global climate change by implementing legally binding targets for carbon emissions. Its stated goal is to achieve, in a timely manner, the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."
The Protocol acknowledges that developed countries are more responsible for the current high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere, and it therefore places a heavier burden on them. It calls for the 37 signatory nations (called Annex I nations) to reduce their combined GHG emissions by an average of 5% from 1990 levels by 2012. The initiatives target four greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride - and two groups of gases produced by them: hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
As of 2011, 190 nations are actively following the Protocol. The United States is the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty from its beginnings, citing concern over the fact that some nations designated as
"developing" - such as China, India, and Brazil - are not obligated to cut emissions. As a baseline for engaging in further climate change negotiations, the US has stipulated that these economies must take on the same legal obligations. During the COP17 held in Durban, South Africa in Winter of 2011, Canada decided to opt out of Kyoto as well.
While nations are expected to meet their targets primarily through national measures, the Protocol also defines three mechanisms that improve flexibility: Emissions Trading (ET), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). To date, CDM has been the most effective; it has encouraged nations to actively seek out emission reduction opportunities, and it stimulates global investment in sustainable development projects. It is also expected to generate approximately 1 billion tons of emissions reductions by 2012 ("What is the Clean...," 2011).
The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. Annual meetings of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) have been used to negotiate a successor to the Protocol. COP15, held in in Copenhagen in 2009, failed to reach a legally binding treaty, and COP16, held in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010, again failed to produce a clear plan. Finally, during the November 2011 UN Climate Change Conference
in Durban, South Africa, the parties agreed to extend Kyoto until at least 2017 to provide enough time to develop an internationally binding strategy to slow climate change.
In addition to the agreement to extend Kyoto, the parties agreed to the creation of the Green Climate Fund. The Fund is designed to: assist poor countries in adapting to climate change, preserve tropical rainforests and develop clean technologies. Financing of $100 billion per year will be collected from public and private sources by 2020.
While it is good news that the countries participating in Kyoto will continue to follow the standards and goals related to it, many have concerns about the damage that China, India, Brazil, The United States and Canada can do in the time before a new binding agreement is created. Additionally, as has been proven by the last several years, the road to a comprehensive agreement on how to tackle climate change is hardly smooth.
