Prices, Quantities, Timing and Participation in Greenhouse Gas Control Policy

Following a decade of international meetings and negotiations, more than 160 nations signaled their commitment to address the problem of climate change by initialing the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. The Protocol requires industrialized “Annex I” countries to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions by an average of roughly five percent compared to 1990 levels; developing countries are not required to meet quantitative emission goals, though all signatories to the 1992 Climate Convention have certain obligations to measure and report emissions and to encourage more climatefriendly activities. Implementation of the Kyoto targets was discussed at the November 1998 meetings in Buenos Aires. However, questions remain in the US and other countries about whether and when the Kyoto Protocol will be ratified and meaningfully implemented.