Frequently Asked Questions

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

These gases are considered at least partly responsible for global warming - the rise in global temperature which may have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth.

The protocol was established in 1997, based on principles set out in a framework agreement signed in 1992.

Industrialised countries have committed to cut their combined emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by 2008 - 2012.

Each country that signed the protocol agreed to its own specific target. EU countries are expected to cut their present emissions by 8% and Japan by 5%. Some countries with low emissions were permitted to increase them.

The Kyoto Protocol became a legally binding treaty on 16 February 2005. It could only come into force after two conditions had been fulfilled:

• It had been ratified by at least 55 countries;
• It had been ratified by nations accounting for at least 55% of emissions from what the Treaty calls 'Annex 1' countries - i.e. those given specific targets for reducing emissions. These are the richer nations of the world, members of the OECD and the former Soviet Union.

The agreement acknowledges that developing countries contribute least to climate change but will quite likely suffer most from its effects.

Many have signed it. They do not have to commit to specific targets, but have to report their emissions levels and develop national climate change mitigation programmes.

China and India, potential major polluters with huge populations and growing economies, have both ratified the protocol.

Singapore deposited its instruments of accession to the Kyoto Protocol on 12 April 2006 and the Protocol will enter into force for Singapore on the 90th day thereafter.

As a non-Annex I country, Singapore can participate in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. The National Environment Agency (NEA) will serve as the Designated National Authority for the approval and registration of CDM projects in Singapore.

Emissions trading works by allowing countries to buy and sell their agreed allowances of greenhouse gas emissions.

Highly polluting countries can buy unused "credits" from those which are allowed to emit more than they actually do.

After much difficult negotiation, countries are now also able to gain credits for activities which boost the environment's capacity to absorb carbon.

These include tree planting and soil conservation, and can be carried out in the country itself, or by that country working in a developing country.

Greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth's atmosphere. The main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2), most of which comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Methane (CH4) is produced from natural gas processing, pipeline leaks, livestock operations and solid waste dumps; nitrous oxide (N2O) is mostly a result of fertilizer use. Three industrial gases used as refrigerants, heat conductors and insulators are also listed as greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are also powerful greenhouse gases that have been banned by a separate treaty, the Montreal Protocol, which is aimed at protecting the ozone layer.

Under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, these countries will be required to compensate with accelerated rates of emission reduction after 2013.Countries that fail to meet their Kyoto target will also have reduced ability to take advantage of "flexibility" mechanisms such as international emissions trading after 2013.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, countries which are parties to the agreement have been assigned targets stipulating the maximum amount of greenhouse gases that they can emit per year over the Commitment Period (2008-2012). In order to meet these targets, they must make changes to their own level of emissions. If necessary they can supplement this action with two other activities. They can undertake projects in other countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offset these reductions against their own target and/or they can buy emissions reductions from others via emissions trading. Emissions reductions are measured in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emission reductions, often termed "carbon credits".

Defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, CDM projects undertaken in developing countries are intended to meet two objectives: (1) to address the sustainable development needs of the host country; and (2) to generate emissions credits called certified emission reductions (CERs) that can be used to satisfy commitments on Annex 1 Parties and thus increase flexibility in where government Parties meet their reduction commitments. Investing in CDM projects may offer companies a cost-effective means of meeting future carbon liabilities.

If parties emit more greenhouse gas than they are authorised to emit (and therefore exceed their “cap”), they must “off-set” these excess emissions by purchasing or generating carbon assets.

In addition, if parties emit less greenhouse gas than their cap allows, they are able to generate carbon assets (in the form of unused authorised emissions) that they can sell to parties that exceed their emissions cap (to enable that party to “off-set” its excess emissions).

Carbon sequestration is one of the primary methods provided for under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing - or more accurately “off-setting” - carbon emissions. Carbon sequestration describes the process where carbon dioxide is sequestered from the atmosphere and stored for a period of time in a “carbon sink.” A sink may take various forms including plants, underground rock formations or coral reefs.

Article 3(3) of the Kyoto Protocol contemplates trees as the primary sink mechanism. It provides for the use of carbon sequestration by allowing parties to use the “net changes in greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks” to satisfy their emission and reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. This is expressly limited to afforestation, reforestation and deforestation since 1990 and must result from direct human-induced land use change and forestry activities.

Carbon dioxide capture and storage involves capturing and separating carbon dioxide from a stationary source, transporting it to a storage location and storing it in long-term isolation from the atmosphere. Captured carbon dioxide can be stored in the geological subsurface, in oceans or can be used for mineral carbonation or industrial uses.

Carbon dioxide can be stored using various methods which include using depleted oil and gas fields and depleted coal fields. Carbon capture and storage is not currently recognised under the Kyoto Protocol as an offset.