The global warming of the planet results mainly from human activities which have increased since the Industrial Revolution (19th century).
If we don’t immediately reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the effects of global warming will be dramatic, especially in the under developed countries which have no resources and infrastructure to face/ deal with this environmental nightmare.
In 1997, in the 3rd Conference of the Parts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP3), was signed the Kyoto Protocol, a major international instrument to attack global warming, whose main objective is the reduction of GHGs emissions. However, the document only entered into force in February 2005, after the ratification by the Russian Federation. Here, 35 developed countries committed themselves to reduce GHGs emissions to 5.2% below the levels of 1990, in the period of 2008-2012.
The Kyoto Protocol has not been ratified by the USA (country responsible for a third of global emissions of GHG) nor by Australia (one of the greatest polluters).
Over the years several Conferences of the Parts on Climate Change have taken place, as well as Reports by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
In 2007 took place the 4th IPCC Report and the 13th COP, which was held in Bali, Indonesia, whose main objective was to open negotiations to the extension of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. In this conference, Australia and the United States surprised the world, as Australia ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the US pledged to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, but without mandatory values. The COP-13 ended with the approval of the "Roadmap in Bali", a document that stipulates the time of the negotiations, as well as policies to be implemented in order to give continuity to the Kyoto Protocol. This document should be finished by 2009, the year in which a new protocol with renewed goals, more ambitious and involving all nations, shall be fixed and approved in Copenhagen.
If we don’t immediately reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the effects of global warming will be dramatic, especially in the under developed countries which have no resources and infrastructure to face/ deal with this environmental nightmare.
In 1997, in the 3rd Conference of the Parts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP3), was signed the Kyoto Protocol, a major international instrument to attack global warming, whose main objective is the reduction of GHGs emissions. However, the document only entered into force in February 2005, after the ratification by the Russian Federation. Here, 35 developed countries committed themselves to reduce GHGs emissions to 5.2% below the levels of 1990, in the period of 2008-2012.
The Kyoto Protocol has not been ratified by the USA (country responsible for a third of global emissions of GHG) nor by Australia (one of the greatest polluters).
Over the years several Conferences of the Parts on Climate Change have taken place, as well as Reports by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
In 2007 took place the 4th IPCC Report and the 13th COP, which was held in Bali, Indonesia, whose main objective was to open negotiations to the extension of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. In this conference, Australia and the United States surprised the world, as Australia ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the US pledged to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, but without mandatory values. The COP-13 ended with the approval of the "Roadmap in Bali", a document that stipulates the time of the negotiations, as well as policies to be implemented in order to give continuity to the Kyoto Protocol. This document should be finished by 2009, the year in which a new protocol with renewed goals, more ambitious and involving all nations, shall be fixed and approved in Copenhagen.
Margarida Fonseca
