Kyoto Protocol Issues - Essay Example

Passage of Kyoto Introduction to the Topic Issue and Research Question Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, which centrally focused on binding obligations on the industrialized nations to lower the emissions of greenhouse gases substantially. The treaty primarily aimed to diminish the presence of greenhouse gases and carbon footprints from different industrial sectors. The treaty further assigns considerable limits and enforces major penalties to the nations in case of any non-compliance regarding the obligations of eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases or not allowing adequate measures to protect the issue of climate change (Bohringer, n.d.). The treaty has been widely accepted by both developed and developing nations in order to protect the efficiency of natural ecosystem from a severe devastation caused by the increasing growth of industrialization. However, few major global nations with enormous economic potentials have been also observed to integrate the Kyoto Protocol in the nations’ political environment inadequately. The US can be regarded as one of the major examples to disregard the integration of Kyoto Protocol obligations in its wide range of industrial policies (Hov et al., 2010). According to the observation of numerous researches relating to climate change, it has been critically identified that policy makers across different developed and developing countries are highly focused on diminishing the issue associated with climate change. The US has debated on carbon reduction measures by disregarding the Kyoto Protocol agreement in the year 2001. The governing body of the nation has backed out the treaty by claiming that the specific details as well as uncertainties in the protocol mechanism may hinder the current economic position of the US drastically (Fletcher, 2005). With regard to the political disagreement regarding the execution of Kyoto Protocol in the US, the research report primary emphasized three major research questions. The study is highly focused on developing and analyzing three major questions relating the issue of climate change in order to identify the prime causes that led the US to back-out its participation in the Kyoto Protocol treaty. Moreover, the research questions to address the issue have been accomplished by developing a relevant set of hypotheses with respect to the issue of the US’s disagreement with the Protocol. The research questions are described hereunder. 1.1 Is it in U.S. interests to sign the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions? Identifying of the interests that influence the US to sign the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emission has been considered as the first research question of the study. In response to the research study, the research question has provided the policy makers of the US an in-depth knowledge and understanding about the role of different obligations and practices to diminish carbon emission. Owing to the first research question, it can be identified that the implementation or execution of the Protocol may lead the nation to weaken its commercial development. The obligations associated with the treaty can be duly considered as the primary concern that insists the US to back out its cooperation with the Kyoto Protocol agreement (Government of Canada, 2005). In relation to the primary consideration of the agreement, Kyoto Protocol is one of the most effective global responses towards the unabatedly rising level of greenhouse gas emission accountable for drastic climate change. According to the first provision of the treaty, the Kyoto Protocol mandated each industrial nation to set a binding greenhouse gas emission related objective to diminish it below the level of 1990s by the year 2012. However, the US revealed its exclusion from the agreement, as the country includes a wide range of commercial industries. With regard to the agreement proposal, the nation has backed out from the Kyoto Protocol by mentioning that the policies might lead the nation to face an economic hurdle with increased energy price and expanded bureaucracy (Depledge, 2005). 1.2 Has the Kyoto protocol made any difference to carbon emissions? The second research question has been developed in order to gain an in-depth understanding about the concept of Kyoto Protocol along with its obligations that are most significant towards diminishing greenhouse gas emission. The formulation of this research question would critically enable the study to measure the importance of the protocol to restore efficiency in the natural ecosystem along with development of the commercial operations. In this context, the research question would help policy makers in assessing the significance of Kyoto Protocol in terms of eliminating the overall issue of greenhouse gas emission (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2008). According to the enforcement and compliance guidelines, a compliance committee entitled for determining the required steps to be abided by the treaty nations in order to diminish the level of greenhouse gas emission from different commercial sectors. A compliance committee is also entrusted with the responsibility of managing and directing Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, if the US agrees to the protocol, then the country would face challenges in managing carbon emission for enormous numbers of emerging manufacturing industries ranging from petrochemical, steel, real estate to production of different household and commercial products sectors (Harrison, 2006). Is the Kyoto treaty a failure based on the wrong premises? The third question of the research is developed to determine the efficacy of the Kyoto Protocol clearly. The question will aid in critically exploring the compliance and obligatory guidelines that are required to be maintained by the treaty nations while eliminating greenhouse gas emission. In order to administer the roles and significance of the obligations critically, the research question has provided a major support to policy makers to identify the different obligatory principles of the treaty along with their effectiveness in terms of responding towards the rising level of greenhouse gas emission. The study has provided a clear view about whether or not the US having a negative impact due to its increasing growth of greenhouse gas emission, which can be critically assessed with the assistance of the research question. The strong compliance and enforcement guidelines may lead the US to face economic debacles as the form of reducing employment opportunities and lowering individual household income (Hov et al., 2010). 2. Discussion of the Research Hypothesis and Existing Research In order to deal with the issues raised by the different industrial sectors effectively, the emergence of Kyoto Protocol has been considered as one of the major initiatives to reduce the negative impact of industrialization. However, inadequate integration of the protocol by the developing nations such as the US can be considered as a major concern for the treaty in order to mitigate the issues relating to carbon emission. In order to assess the interests of the US to sign the Kyoto protocol critically, the research study tends to incorporate few major hypotheses in response to the key research questions. The hypotheses that were developed for the research have been detailed in the following discussion. Hypothesis 1 If the U.S. signs the Kyoto Protocol, the competitiveness of American businesses will decrease. The hypothesis has been developed with the aim of analyzing the impact of signing the Kyoto protocol on the competitiveness of the American business industries. According to the fundamental aim of the agreement, Kyoto Protocol is often regarded as a major and far-reaching environmental treaty that has been adopted by the different nations. The treaty is also considered as a significant sign towards ensuring that the global communities are willing to acknowledge and adopt necessary actions to deal with the issue of climate change (New England Aquarium 2014). According to the agreement of the Protocol, it is ascertained that each nation involved in the treaty inevitably reduces the level of greenhouse gas emission in accordance with their pre-assigned levels. In this concern, the obligation might have a number of negative impacts on the US commercial sectors that further bring severe economic downfall to the nation. In this context, the growth of the manufacturing sectors and their support towards the development of the national economy might be hindered due to the incorporation of the Kyoto protocol. According to the commercial environment of the US, the nation has long been recognized to accumulate extensive growth in its different steel, petrochemical, automobile and refining among other manufacturing sectors. Moreover, the industries from different manufacturing areas have been also observed to increase their annual economic contribution in terms of GDP growth or increasing annual household income of the individuals. The ratification of the treaty might adversely affect the annual operational capability of the firms as the Kyoto Protocol involves strong set of guiding policies and principles to eliminate greenhouse gas emission (Hov et al., 2010). In this regard, it can be stated that an agreement with the protocol may lead to the US to substantially reduce the economic performance of its wide commercial sectors and hinder economic performance of the nation as well. Moreover, the agreement with the Kyoto Protocol may also weaken the economic performance of the US by lowering substantial amount of workforce from different manufacturing business industries. The implementation of the treaty in this regard might have a negative impact on the employment in steel, chemical, petroleum refining, cement, and paper industries (Chen & Wang, 2012.). In this context, the decision of signing the treaty could be devastating potentially by the energy rationing under the Kyoto Protocol in the US. Correspondingly, the energy price could also rise to a massive level that can radically lower the economic expectancy in terms of reduced earnings and increased energy cost of both working and poor families across the states in the nation. The integration of the Kyoto Protocol in the industrial sectors can also form a number of major obstacles for the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to deal with costs and complexities to achieve their commercial goals and objectives. Therefore, it can be stated that the integration of the Kyoto Protocol in the national democracy might lead the US to face major economic debacles and lower its financial competitiveness as compare to the other global nations (Kumazawa & Callaghan, 2012). Hypothesis 2 If the U.S. signs the Kyoto Protocol, the GHG will decrease resolving the overall problem. The second hypothesis of the research has been formulated with the aim of identifying the significance of whether or not the elimination of GHG by the Kyoto Protocol can enable the US to decrease its overall problems that might be experienced by the nation in its economic conditions by lowering the growth rate of the country. The hypothesis can assist to gain adequate understanding about the optimum level of GHG emission reduction level that can further facilitate the nation to evade numerous micro and macro-economic challenges. The ratification of the Kyoto Protocol can provide substantial support to the nation not only to reduce greenhouse gas emission, but also to provide the compliance guidelines to reduce organizational costs and build a long-term sustainable position of the firms globally (Kumazawa & Callaghan, 2012). Owing to the fact that the ratification with the Protocol can substantially lower the agency costs for the organizations. In relation to the current environmental protection policies and practices, majority of the US based organizations integrate external agencies or institutions to lower the optimum level of GHG in different segments of the manufacturing activities. Hence, the ratification of Kyoto Protocol may also enable the US to promote strong policy implications and build strong shield to mitigate the issue of climate change. Moreover, the ratification of the Protocol is beneficial especially for the developed countries to become liable environmentally and improve business sustainability in the long run. In this context, the integration of Kyoto Protocol would aid the nation in mitigating the issue of GHG emissions, which would additionally aid in dealing with different environment related concerns (Chen & Wang, 2012). Hypothesis 3 If the U.S. doesn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol, then we won’t make a difference in the Carbon foot print that we help create The hypothesis has been formulated in order to determine the significant importance of initiatives that can help nations to reduce the severe impact of carbon emission or climate change related issues. In the context of the US, the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol could enable the nation to build an environmentally liable nation that could improve its long-term competitiveness. However, if the country does not ratify the Kyoto protocol, then the industrial sectors in the US would be ineffective in minimizing the level of carbon emission. With regard to the last few decades, the environmental administrations of the US have faced major conflicts regarding the growing concern of carbon emission. The governmental department and agencies have been further observed to face major debate in terms of taking necessary measures to implement environmental policies that would aid in reducing the vulnerable issues of climate change (Kumazawa & Callaghan, 2012). However, the US has been also recognized to take different other measures to reduce or eliminate the devastative impact of carbon emission accountable for changing the natural environment of the nation. In this regard, the initiative of ratifying the Asia-Pacific Partnership in order to promote Clean Development and Climate can be regarded as a major step for the nation to lower the vulnerable impact of carbon emission. In addition, the newly endorsed long term goal by the President of the US can also be considered as a major initiates that can enable the nation to substantially reduce the negative impact of carbon emission by the year 2050 (New England Aquarium, 2014). The recently passed American Clean Energy and Security Act by the US House passed under the Clean Air Act can also substantially lower the devastating level of carbon emission within the nation. In addition, the Obama administration proposed many goals that were embodied in “stimulus package” and enacted in 2009 with the intention of reducing the impact of carbon emission. Therefore, it is evident that the disagreement with the Kyoto Protocol might not make any difference to the US regarding reducing the impact of carbon emission (Harrison, 2006). 3. Differentiating the Variables and analyzing them with the Research Findings The concern of not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol by the US can be regarded as one of the major issues that have been increasing strong debates and argumentative claims of the politicians and the citizens across the nation. In order to demonstrate the major interests of the country critically, the research work included a set of independent and dependent variables. The selection of the variables has provided a major support to assess clearly the key interest areas relating to the concern of excluding Kyoto Protocol in the developed commercial sectors of the US. Therefore, the independent and dependent variables have been clearly differentiated in the following sections. Independent Variables U.S. Signs the Kyoto Protocol The ratification of Kyoto Protocol can aid a nation to strengthen its strategic measures and practices to reduce the risk of carbon emission for the development of the natural ecosystem. In this context, the process of signing the Kyoto Protocol has been considered as an independent variable of the research. The variable has been taken into consideration in order to assess the measures that were executed by the US in response to the ratification of the protocol. Moreover, the independent variable has been also justified to gain an in-depth understanding about the measures taken by the nation to deal with the issue of climate change or reduce the level of greenhouse gas emission substantially across its different states. US in response to the Protocol The US has been considered as another important independent variable of the research regarding Kyoto Protocol. The variable has provided a critical understanding about the Federal decisions of ratifying the execution of the Protocol in terms of dealing with the issue of GHG emission across the nation. In addition, the responses of the US in relation to the Protocol could be measured from the feedbacks of industrial sector implementing the Protocol. The selection of the variable has also provided major insights in terms of justifying appropriate details behind signing of the Kyoto protocol to reduce GHG at a substantial level from the nation’s commercial sectors perspective. The research study provides detailed information regarding the disagreement of the nation or why the US had backed out to execute the protocol in its extensively developed industrial sectors. The variable has provided major support in order to justify the efficacy of executing the protocol to resolve issues that might be generated due to the implementation of the protocol in the nation’s different commercial sectors. U.S. doesn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol The independent variable has been taken into consideration to define the key factors clearly that influences the US government to avoid the execution of the Kyoto Protocol in the nation’s commercial sectors. According to the observation, it has been ascertained few major key factors that could severely affect the overall business environment of the nation. The independent variable has been also regarded to differentiate the level of carbon footprint after the implementation of the protocol. In this regard, the variable has been considered in order to highlight the potential economic hazards clearly that might be faced by the US commercial sectors while ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. Dependent Variables Competitive Commercial Sector of the US The current business environment of the nation has been considered as the dependent variable of the research. The present business environment will be measured with the level of competition and number of operating companies. The variable has been selected as the Kyoto Protocol might affect the business environment from different dimensions that include reduction of business units and increased operation costs among others. The extensive areas of the US commercial sectors have been considered as one of the key dependent variable of the research. The variable has been selected to highlight the trend of the wide range of economic resources of the country. Additionally, the variable signifies the influences on the country’s resources after the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. In this regard, the discussion provides a major understanding about the economic contribution of the different US commercial sectors. In addition, determines how they might be influenced by the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Erosion of GHG Emission can resolve the overall problem Identification of the possible consequences by the execution of Kyoto Protocol to eliminate GHG emission has been considered as a major dependent variable of the research. In this context, the selection of the variable has enabled to analyze wide range of economic impacts critically that the nation could face by executing the protocol to eradicate GHG emission from the existing commercial sectors. Differentiating the changes in Carbon Footprint In order to deal with the extensively growing concern of carbon footprint, the third dependent variable has enabled to characterize different alternative measures of the US rather than to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. In this regard, the variable has provided a set of alternative actions that are taken by the US government to reduce the level of carbon footprint substantially from the nation’s commercial sectors. Moreover, the research has also provided adequate justification of the alternative actions to the Protocol and their possible outcomes that can assist the US to conserve extensive growth of commercialization. 4. Conclusions and Related Outcomes The evolution of industrialization in the present globalized world has been undergoing radical phases that have numerous negative impacts on the global ecosystem. In relation to the recent phenomena, the thriving exertion in industrialization has become a growing interest for the countries irrespective of their size, geographical locations or demographic trends within the nations. The unabated changes in the global economy along with evolutionary ups and downs regarding the financial performance of the countries have long been witnessing to carry a continuous development of industrialization across the nations. However, the budding growth in the global industrial field is also considered as a prime concern for the countries to defend the issue of climate change. In order to deal with the issue, the emergence of Kyoto Protocol has ever been recognized to minimize the level of GHG emission and other issues relating to global warming. Correspondingly, it has been also recognized that the exclusion of the developed country such as the US in the Kyoto Protocol treaty is subjected to a major question for the other developed nation. In this regard, the research has critically distinguished major areas regarding the key reasons behind the exclusion of the nation from the globally accepted treaty. With reference to the research questions and hypothesis undertaken, it is evident that the execution of Kyoto Protocol has gained wider interests in terms of reducing the level of GHG emission caused by the commercial industries. However, the discussion has provided major understanding about the disagreement of the US for being a treaty member of the Protocol. Execution of the protocol may also lead to lower operational efficiency of the Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that can drastically influence commercial sectors in maintaining their stipulated commercial goals. Thus, the inclusion of Kyoto Protocol in the environmental policies of the nation may substantially raise a major risk for the SMEs to get appropriate outcomes of their annual investments. Moreover, the regulatory standards would create a number of obstacles that can further form a bureaucratic or complex organizational structure of the SMEs. The adequate compliance with the regulatory guidelines of the protocol could also endanger millions of people with low income across the different Latin American regions, as this segment of the population may suffer from unemployment and increase cost of living. In addition to the impact of Kyoto Protocol to the SMEs, the considerable influence on the labor market is also a major concern, which can drastically reduce the economic growth of the US. In this regard, the Protocol was not accepted by the US as the nation is filled with an extensive resource of commercial sectors that not only contribute a large portion of the economy, but also confirm major support to increase employment opportunity in the country. Indeed, the nation has been also witnessed to implement a number of effective measures to avoid future challenges of commercialization as a form of climate change. The US is identified to adopt different environmental policies with the aim of minimizing the issues related with carbon emission rather that ratifying Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, future research of the study would critically focus on encompassing different measures and practices of the US to reduce the issue of climate change due to its extensive industrial resources. References Bohringer, C. (n.d.). The Kyoto Protocol: A review and perspectives. Retrieved from ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0361.pdf Chen, N., & Wang, W. (2012). Kyoto Protocol and capital structure: a comparative study of developed and developing countries. Applied Financial Economics, 22(21), 1771-1786.  Depledge, J. (2005). Against the grain: The United States and the global climate change regime. Global Change, Peace & Security 17(1), 11-67. Fletcher, S. R. (2005). Global climate change: The Kyoto Protocol. Congressional Research Service, CRS- 1- CRS- 13. Government of Canada. (2005). Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved from http://www.climatechangeconnection.org/resources/documents/hottopic3_kyoto.pdf Harrison, C. (2006). The road not taken: Climate change policy in Canada and the United States. Retrieved from http://www.politics.ubc.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/poli_sci/Faculty/harrison/Canada_US_august.pdf Hov, J., Sprinz, D. F., & Bang, G. (2010). Why the United States did not become a party to the Kyoto Protocol: German, Norwegian, and US perspectives. European Journal of International Relations 18(1), 129-150. Kumazawa, R., & Callaghan, M. (2012). The effect of the Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions. Journal of Economics & Finance, 36(1), 201-210. New England Aquarium. (2014). Policies that tackle the issues of global climate change. Retrieved from http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/climate_change/climate_change_policy.php United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2008). Kyoto protocol reference manual- On accounting of emissions and assigned amount. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/08_unfccc_kp_ref_manual.pdf Read More