Compliance with the Climate Change Obligations: The Kyoto Protocol Compliance Mechanism

"Procedures and Mechanisma on Compliance Under the Kyoto Protocol" was adopted by the Kyoto Protocol First Meeting of Parties at Montreal in 2005. The Compliance Committee which constitutes of Facilitative Branch and Enforcement Branch, started to operate in 2006. While the Enforcement Branch deserves a special attention due to its innovative quasi-judicial characteristics, the mandate of the Facilitative Branch have many similarities with the Non-Compliance Procedures which is already applicable for various Multilateral Environmental Agreements, predominantly the Montreal Protocol. The outcomes of the ongoing climate change negotiations for post-2012 will possibly shape and guide the necessary changes to the Kyoto Protocol compliance regime as well. Thereupon, the purpose of this article is to shed light on the structure and functioning of the compliance mechanism; the mandates used by the Facilitative and Enforcement Branches; the legal nature of the decisions taken by the Compliance Committee.