Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that aims to reduce:

Correct option is C

Correct Answer: C Greenhouse gas emissions

Explanation:

• The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty adopted in 1997 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits its signatory countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• The protocol recognizes that developed countries are primarily responsible for the high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to over a century of industrial activity.
• Its main aim is to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change by curbing emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorinated gases.

Key objectives of the Kyoto Protocol:

1. Establish binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing GHG emissions.
2. Develop mechanisms like emissions trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI) to help countries meet their targets.
3. Set reduction commitments in two periods: 2008–2012 (First Commitment Period) and 2013–2020 (Second Commitment Period).

Information Booster:

·         Adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 and came into force in 2005.

·         The United States signed the protocol but never ratified it.

·         The Doha Amendment to the protocol was adopted in 2012 to establish the second commitment period.

·         The Kyoto Protocol was succeeded by the Paris Agreement in 2015, which aims for more extensive global participation.

·         GHG emission reduction targets were based on 1990 emission levels.