Kyoto isn’t about reducing carbon. Don’t take my word for it. Behold the words of the European Union’s Environment Commissioner:
Margot Wallstroem says Kyoto “is not a simple environmental issue, where you can say scientists are not unanimous. This is about international relations, this is about the economy, about trying to create a level playing field for big businesses throughout the world. You have to understand what is at stake and that is why it is serious,”
Then French President and liberal darling Jaques Chirac added the Kyoto Protocol is “the first component of authentic global governance.”
Aside from that, the Kyoto Protocol is an utter failure. From the L.A. Times:
Despite the 1997 Kyoto Protocol’s status as the flagship of the fight against climate change, it has been a failure in the hard, expensive work of actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Its restrictions have been so gerrymandered that only 36 countries are required to limit their pollution. Just over a third of those — members of the former Eastern bloc — can pollute at will because their limits were set so far above their actual emissions.
China and India, whose fast-rising emissions easily cancel out any cuts elsewhere, are allowed to keep polluting.
And the biggest polluter of all, the United States, has simply refused to join the treaty.
That leaves Western Europe, Canada, Japan and New Zealand to do the work of the world. Their emissions are rising despite their commitment, starting next year, to reduce them by an average of roughly 8% from 1990 levels.
It has been a success in one area. Fines.
The [citizens of the] rich countries who joined the Kyoto Protocol are paying billions of dollars in fines for their failure to meet their commitments. “Japan, Italy and Spain face fines of as much as $33 billion combined for failing to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions as promised under the Kyoto treaty.” According to the article by Bloomberg, the reason for the increase in emission was because “they underestimated economic growth and future emissions from factories and utilities.”
Ireland is facing huge fines as well.
“TAXPAYERS face having to fork out more than €270m so that Ireland can “buy its way” into meeting the Kyoto agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.”
So, if the rich, aka capitalist, country’s economy grows, it results in fines. Or, the rich countries buy carbon credits from the poor countries, who have their commitments so high they can pollute at will. Sounds like an attempt leveling of the playing field to me.