SAMLING I BONN: En studie av historien bak Kyoto-protokollen og dens mekanismer. Er mekanismene et verktøy for å nå det objektive målet i protokollen, eller bare en billig unnskyldning?

Abstract

ABSTRACT

AGREEMENT IN BONN

− A study of the Kyoto Protocol’s historical formation and the flexible mechanisms. Are they a tool to reach the objective goal in the Protocol or just a cheap excuse?

Master thesis in Geography, Department of Geography, NTNU, Trondheim

Since the Neolithic revolution, human kind has manipulated its environment. But could we have done anything about the weather? The question that concerns almost the entire world is, is there a human impact on climatic change?

The significance of the greenhouse effect, causing global warming, has been a matter of debate for several decades. This study is performed by using document analyses and case examples to answer the following main questions:

• How has the historical, scientific and political influence on the processes been, that finally lead to the ratification of The Kyoto Protocol in February 2005?

• Will the Kyoto Protocol´s objective goal of reducing greenhouse gasses be enough in a scientific matter, or is it just a political goal? Is the objective goal intact or is it modified by flexible mechanisms?

• What effect will the different mechanism have on reaching the objective goal of emission reduction of 5,2 % of greenhouse gasses?

The study’s three cases illustrate how projects under the mechanisms could be implemented at the local level in the developing countries in the South. This study aims to understand both the scientific and political reasons for the formation of a global climate agreement like the Kyoto Protocol. It presumes that because of the implementation of Joint Implementation and Clean Development

Mechanism under the Protocol the objective goal of a 5.2 % reduction of emission on greenhouse gasses will most likely not be reached.