Analysis: Environmental Management, Kyoto & Paris Agreement

This essay examines the roles of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement in addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development. It begins by outlining the increasing public and environmentalist awareness of the interrelationship between environmental management, individual wellbeing, and economic progress. The essay discusses the Kyoto Protocol as an international treaty obligating state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting its role in setting distinct targets for industrialized countries and enabling emissions trading. It also addresses the challenges faced by the Kyoto Protocol, including non-ratification by some nations and limitations in scientific knowledge. The essay then transitions to the Paris Agreement, emphasizing its comprehensive approach to mitigating emissions, adaptation, and finance, with the goal of limiting global temperature increase. It details the agreement's key aspects, such as long-term temperature objectives, mitigation efforts through nationally determined contributions, and voluntary cooperation among participants. Finally, the essay touches upon the aviation industry's emissions under both protocols and evaluates the success of the Paris Agreement based on increased renewable energy adoption.

Environmental Management for Sustainable Development
3/16/2019

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1
Environmental Management for Sustainable Development
The relationship between environmental management, individual wellbeing, and economic
progress is a complex procedure, influencing the sustainability and quality of society. The
understanding of the general public, as well as environmentalists, is increasing regarding the
interrelationship of these three areas. In the past, the ecosystem of the world was capable to
engross the ecological harm ensuing from widespread development and industrialization
(Goosen, 2012). Though, with the fast growth in the worldwide population and
industrialization, the available natural resources like water, soil, etc. the earth is no longer
capable to manage a balanced and healthy ecosystem. The intent of this paper is to discuss
the role of the different protocol implemented and their success in improving the way climate
change is addressed. The paper is majorly based on the discussion of the Kyoto Protocol and
the Paris Agreement have addressed climate change.
Part 1
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is one of the international treaty that is covered in the United Nations
Framework Convention of 1992 on Climate Change that obligates parties of the state to work
towards declining the emission of the greenhouse gases, depending on the scientific accord
that global warming is increasing and it is probable that CO2 emission made by human have
mainly instigated it. In Kyoto, Japan, the Kyoto Protocol was approved, in 1997 and came
into existence in 2005. There are around 192 parties linked with this protocol (United Nations
Climate Change, 2019c).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2
Role of Kyoto Protocol in addressing Climate Change
Increasing issues related to the environment was seen as a major challenge in the 90s for the
worldwide political structure. Numerous numbers of countries had become completely
developed and were instigating extensive pollution and environmental degradation. The
greenhouse gas emission had risen. Considering all these issues, the United Nations started to
work on different techniques that would control the pollution and fix the limitations for every
nation in terms of greenhouse gas emission. All these concepts were the portion of the UN’s
Convention on Climate Change (Conserve Energy Future, 2019).
The nature of the Kyoto Protocol treaty is that the industrialized countries have distinct and
requisite targets, whereas the emerging countries are mandatory to decrease their emissions.
Industrialized countries are permitted some level of freedom, but have to fix quotas of their
trading between each other or by supporting emerging countries in decreasing their
emissions. The industrialized nations can support the emerging nations in binding renewable
energy sources, declining deforestation and discovering techniques to create energy-efficient
infrastructure (Climate Connection Change, 2016). Here the role of the Kyoto Protocol is to
permit growth and development but not at an environmental cost that comes with it.
The Kyoto Protocol has even experienced a few issues. The issue that has always been the
portion of the treaty, since its establishment is that where every nation has been a participant,
not all of them are ready to ratify it. Ratification is just a sign of reliance and is not
considered as a contract to every terms and condition. Ratifying the treaty means that, the
nation is efficiently the part of the agreement with the UN and companion nations to comply
with the outlined goals (Harvard Magazine, 2002). Not every nation selects to sign the
contract, which reflects that the Kyoto protocol role is non-existent for them. The general
reason was specified that it can damage the economy.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3
Countries like Australia and the United States of America argued for around 10 years for the
changes that they asked to be made in the Kyoto Protocol Treaty. These nations have still not
signed the treaty, means that yet they are not being accountable for reducing their emission as
of now (European Council, 2019).
The key motive of introducing the Kyoto Protocol was to establish a contract among the
nations to put their efforts in decreasing the worldwide greenhouse gases emissions. Though,
it was tough to make every nation agree with the Kyoto Protocol in their present governance.
Another issue experienced by the Kyoto Protocol treaty was that it is established on limited
scientific knowledge and did not take consideration of all the individual desires of every
country. Ratification by a small nation like Switzerland will be very little if the industrialized
nation like Australia, USA, China, Russia, and the UK endure increasing the greenhouse gas
emission yearly (Coppock, 2019).
Though, the Kyoto Protocol was introduced with best purposes, as it was an excellent way to
reflect that there is a worldwide awareness about climate change. It took around 10 years to
approve the treaty and convert it in an authorized agreement. There were numerous gaps that
restricted industrialized countries to not get involved in the practice of decreasing greenhouse
gases emission, instead utilizing emerging countries as a manner of outsourcing them.
Though, the aim of the 2008-2012 commitment eras was not encountered in any way, hence
making the Kyoto protocol role impractical for the upcoming commitment period.
As of now, increasing scientific knowledge has been a substance for an environmental
change. Emerging countries are not being provided with the scope to increase their
greenhouse gases emissions. The maximum part of Asia, combined with the Indian
subcontinent has limited emissions but is being balanced by the emission produced by China.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 4
In order to make the Kyoto Protocol success in the present circumstances, it has to make
alterations to signify the present state of the world.
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement is said to be a contract established under the UN Convention on
Climate Change framework. The agreement majorly talks about the mitigations for the
greenhouse gas emissions, alteration, and finance, beginning in 2020. The language of the
Paris agreement was discussed by legislatures of 196 state participants at the 21st Conference
of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget and accepted by agreement on 12 December 2015 (United
Nations Climate Change, 2019a). As of March 2019, 195 members of UNFCCC have ratified
the contract, and around 185 members have become a party. The long-term objective of the
agreement is to try to increase the worldwide average temperature to below 2 °C above pre-
industrial stages; and to restrict the rise to around 1.5 °C, as this will considerably decrease
the influence and risk of change in the climate (Solar Impulse Foundation, 2019).
Role of Paris Agreement in addressing the Climate Change
The Paris Agreement is created on the convention and for the very first time, it has brought
all the countries under one single cause to take determined efforts to fight with the climate
change and familiarize to its effects, and helping emerging nations to adopt the same
guidelines. As of now, it is being reflected that it plans a fresh course in the worldwide
climate effort. The main motive of the Paris Agreement is to reinforce the worldwide reaction
to climate change by maintaining a universal temperature. Furthermore, the agreement
purpose is to enhance the capability of the nations to effectively cope up with the influence of
climate change and at making the steady flow of the funds with little GHG emissions. To
attain these aims suitable deployment and endowment of financial resources, an advanced
technology outlining and improving the capacity of the countries must be done. The contract

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 5
also offers an improved transparency outline for support and action and support (United
Nations Climate Change, 2018).
It is very essential for the success of the Paris Agreement that all the participants give their
best efforts by “nationally determined contributions” and to reinforce these exertions in the
coming years. The agreement requires that every participant report frequently regarding their
level of emissions and their execution efforts. There will be a worldwide audit every 5 years
in order to evaluate the shared growth in attaining the aim of the agreement and taking further
actions by the participants (United Nations Climate Change, 2019b).
The Agreement addresses critical parts essential to struggle with climate change. Few of the
major aspects of the Paris Agreement are stated below:
Long-term temperature objective – The Agreement, is framed to reinforce the worldwide
reaction to climate change, endorses the objective of restricting overall temperature increase
(Streck, Keenlyside & Unger, 2016).
Worldwide peaking and 'climate neutrality' – In order to attain the temperature objective,
participants are focused towards attaining worldwide peaking of GHG emission, as
identifying peaking will support emerging nation participants, to attain a balance between all
the greenhouse gas emission.
Mitigation – The Paris Agreement institutes compulsory pledges of all the participating
parties to create, interconnect and preserve an NDC that is nationally determined contribution
and to follow domestic procedures to attain them. It also recommends that participants must
represent their NDCs in every 5 years and deliver evidence essential for transparency as well
as clarity (United Nations Climate Change, 2019b). In order to fix a firm foundation for a
greater drive, all the consecutive NDC will signify a development and reproduce the

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 6
maximum conceivable ambition. Industrialized nations must endure to be at the leading
position by taking complete economy-wide declining targets, whereas emerging nations must
endure improving their mitigation labors, and are cheered to shit in the direction of economy-
wide targets with time.
Voluntary cooperation – The Paris Agreement identifies the probability of voluntary
cooperation between the participants to have greater drive and principles – comprising robust
accounting, transparency, and environmental reliability – for the collaboration that includes
globally transferal of alleviation consequences. It forms a contrivance to add to the mitigation
of greenhouse gases emissions and provide sustainable development and describes n outline
for non-market methods to sustainable development (United Nations Climate Change,
2019b).
Paris Agreement is a success or failure
According to the reports, the share of worldwide electricity offered by renewables increased
from 2015 with 10.3% to 2016 with 11.3% (United Nations Climate Change, 2017).
The increasing diffusion of fresh energy worldwide was quoted by the Global Energy Agency
in the current year why emission of the greenhouse gas has remained even in three years
consecutively in spite of worldwide economic growth increasing by 3% (United Nations
Climate Change, 2017).
In addition, countries are regularly involving in producing energy through renewable sources
for example; India is done with the construction with its solar complex i.e. Ramanathapuram,
recorded as the largest project of solar voltaic of the world at 648 megawatts (United Nations
Climate Change, 2017). These efforts reflect that the nations are putting their efforts to make
Paris Agreement a success.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 7
Aviation Industry Emission under Kyoto Protocol
States that have signed the Kyoto Protocol treaty have responsibilities to decrease their
emissions of greenhouse gases, comprising those from domestic aviation. The Kyoto Protocol
needs States to talk about the emissions from global aviation by the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Both ICAO and the Protocol ratify emissions trading as a
device to attain this. Considering the worldwide aviation nature and climate change, it is vital
that emissions trading initiatives admire the worldwide strategies and direction formed by
ICAO.
The emission of the CO2 from aviation is due to the fuel burn. If the airline were the part of
the trading entities in the trading scheme of emission, they would have been provided with
the individual measures or quotas for emissions and their mutual level of emission would be
capped. In order to attain the targets of emission, operators would require making few of the
selections i.e. windup their business operations, enhance their fuel efficiency or buy
allowances of emissions from others. The expected growth of the aviation reflects that the
emission will upsurge and airlines will be the purchasers of allowances. This is the reason
Aviation is excluded from the Kyoto protocol and decided to ask the intergovernmental body
UN, and the international organization of Aviation to bring global resolutions to reduce the
emissions from the aviation industry (Hardeman, 2007).
Aviation Industry under Paris Agreement
In the year 2015, the UNFCCC member states came under one single arrangement to manage
climate change. The establishment of the Paris Agreement reflected the actual pledge in their
tactic to climate change. The Agreement that words with a ‘bottom-up’ attitude where all the
member parties report their own plans related to climate, includes the national emissions of
all the nations (Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders, 2019). This comprises emission from the
national services of aviation and the stationary services like head offices of airlines,

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 8
manufacturing units, centers of traffic management, and airports. As it has been normal in the
negotiations at UNFCCC related to climate, international aviation was excluded from the
concluding agreement, however, has been hand over to the specialized United Nation's
agency and the International Civil Aviation Organization, who are operating on this sector’s
pathway for managing the worldwide discharges of the greenhouse gasses from the industry
of aviation (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2016).
Part 2
ICAO states’ 2016 CORSIA agreement
In 2016, the ICAO that is International Civil Aviation Organization confirmed the facts of the
measures that are market-based to balance the increasing emission from the aviation industry
starting in the year 2020. The arrangement is called as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction
Scheme for International Aviation generally known as CORSIA, was settled on at the 39th
assembly of ICAO.
CORSIA will be executed as the intended system, which will start from 2021–2026 and be
compulsorily followed from the year 2027–2035, the time it will be functional for every
member nations of ICAO. The agreement will also include some exceptional emerging
nations and small markets. CORSIA eliminates national activities of aviation and the other
climate pollutants emissions from the aviation, such as nitrogen oxides, black carbon, and the
pioneers of aviation-induced cloudiness (AIC).
CORSIA is framed to attain CNG by alleviating emission from the aviation above 2020
levels by the acquisition of carbon offsets. The scheme will be initiated in 2021, be executed
in three major stages that are a voluntary pilot, first phases 2021 to 2026, and then a
compulsory second phase for the member states with around 75% of traffic growth

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 9
(International Council on Clean Transportation, 2017). The compulsory stage is executed by
adopting a dynamic tactic that is presented in the below image:
Source [(International Council on Clean Transportation, 2017)]
The unique measure, industrialized in the 38th Assembly, projected a compulsory phase that
will begin in the year 2021. To talk about the issues from less industrialized nations, the
confirmed measure strapped the compulsory second stage to 2027, putting two voluntary
stages that are a pilot stage from the year 2021 to 2023, and Phase 1 from the year 2024 to
2026. In 2017, 66 participating states, demonstrating around 64% of worldwide traffic as
enclosed by CORSIA, have promised their contribution in the pilot stage. Nations showing
their will to participate in the scheme later also have to follow the same procedure, and any
nation contributing in the voluntary stages can in future opt to leave the agreement by
providing the 6 months of notice to the ICAO.
In the year 2016, assembled states at ICAO argument decided to introduce the Carbon
Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. This program that has entire
support of the industry will permit aviation to attain its part of the objective of carbon-neutral
growth and will accompaniment the motive of the Paris Agreement. It is not just essential that
CORSIA works efficiently to attain its envisioned objective but the inclusive drive of
CORSIA is inflamed up beyond its specified ambitious objective of alleviating global civil
aviation emissions at 2020 levels. In order to confirm the decrease in the emission is steady

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 10
with the temperature objectives of the Paris Agreement, the government must take actions on
the regional and state level (Carbon Market Watch, 2018).
Conclusion
The above paper has discussed the key agreements and protocols that have been framed at the
global level on Climate Change. The paper has given importance to two main schemes that
are the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement that is framed to reduce the level of greenhouse
gas emissions from the environment. Both the schemes comprise the support of different
parties who have adopted the prescribed guidelines. Increasing issues related to the
environment was seen as a major challenge in the 90s for the worldwide political structure.
As a result, the Kyoto protocol was introduced as a treaty that obligates parties of the state to
work towards declining the emission of the greenhouse gases, depending on the scientific
accord. The purpose of the Paris Agreement is to enhance the capability of the nations to
effectively pact with the influence of climate change and at making the steady flow of the
funds with little GHG emissions. The Kyoto protocol highlighted the major greenhouse gases
emission from the aviation industry but did not include it in its framework due to its
continued growth and development. However, the CORSIA agreement is established in order
to balance the increasing emission from the aviation industry, which will start in the year
2020.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 11
References
Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders. (2019). Aviation and the Paris Agreement. Retrieved
from https://aviationbenefits.org/environmental-efficiency/our-climate-plan/aviation-
and-climate-change/paris-agreement/
Carbon Market Watch. (2018). Understanding the CORSIA Package – Report (ICSA).
Retrieved from https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/understanding-corsia-
package-icsa/
Climate Connection Change. (2016). Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved from
https://climatechangeconnection.org/solutions/international-solutions/kyoto-protocol/
Conserve Energy Future. (2019). What is the Role of Kyoto Protocol in Climate Change?
Retrieved from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/what-is-kyoto-protocol.php
Coppock, R. (2019). Implementing the Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved from
https://issues.org/coppock/
European Council. (2019). International agreements on climate action. Retrieved from
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/climate-change/international-
agreements-climate-action/
Goosen, M.F.A. (2012). Environmental management and sustainable development.
ELSEVIER, 33(2012), 6-13.
Hardeman, A. (2007). Emissions trading and the aviation industry. Retrieved from
https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/1485/emissions-trading-and-the-
aviation-industry/

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 12
Harvard Magazine. (2002). Problems with the Protocol. Retrieved from
https://harvardmagazine.com/2002/11/problems-with-the-protoc.html
International Council on Clean Transportation. (2017). International Civil Aviation
Organization’s Carbon Offset And Reduction Scheme For International Aviation
(CORSIA). Retrieved from
https://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICAO%20MBM_Policy-
Update_13022017_vF.pdf
Solar Impulse Foundation. (2019). Paris Agreement. Retrieved from
https://solarimpulse.com/paris-agreement?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvJ23kb6G4QIVz6qWCh2bWAgJEAAYASAAEgKYn_D_Bw
E
Streck, C., Keenlyside, P., & Unger, M.V. (2016). The Paris Agreement: A New Beginning.
Journal for European environmental & planning law, 13(2016), 3-29.
United Nations Climate Change. (2017). The Future of the Paris Climate Change Agreement
in a Changing World. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/news/the-future-of-the-paris-
climate-change-agreement-in-a-changing-world
United Nations Climate Change. (2018). Katowice Climate Package: Implementation
guidelines for the Paris Agreement. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/
United Nations Climate Change. (2019a). The Paris Agreement. Retrieved from
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
United Nations Climate Change. (2019b). What is the Paris Agreement? Retrieved from
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/what-is-the-paris-
agreement

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 13
United Nations Climate Change. (2019c). What is the Kyoto Protocol? Retrieved from
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/what-is-the-kyoto-
protocol/what-is-the-kyoto-protocol
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2016). Shipping Aviation and
Paris. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/news/shipping-aviation-and-paris