A look at climate change and the evolution of the Kyoto Protocol

The withdrawal of the United States from climate change negotiations and the Kyoto Protocol ratification almost single-handedly defeated the only concerted international attempt to curb worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, Climate change discussions entered the international arena in 1988, and by 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was drafted and ready for signing and ratification. It will not enter into force until it has been ratified by at least 55 states that account for 55 percent of the total industrialized carbon dioxide emissions of 1990. During the course of negotiations, U.S. participants have effectively worked to minimize commitments and increase alternatives to straightforward reductions. Although no longer a signatory, and with no intentions to ratify, the United, States has forced the parties to the Protocol to accept weaker targets and greater compromises. Even if climate change proves not to be the threat that some scientists claim it will be, an entire international legal, political, and economic structure is now being created that will substantially affect the global economic environment. Isolating itself from the rest of the world, the United States will surely face the consequences of non-involvement in the years to come.