The Kyoto Protocol was agreed by UNFCCC Parties in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. The Kyoto Protocol commits developed countries to achieve quantified targets for decreasing their emissions of greenhouse gases. In aggregate, the developed countries committed to reducing their overall emissions of six greenhouse gases by some 5% below 1990 levels over the period between 2008 and 2012, with specific targets varying by country.

The Kyoto Protocol has, for the first time, placed a constraint on the amount of greenhouse gases that will be allowed in developed countries in the period 2008-2012. Once it enters into force, developed countries will have binding commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emission levels in the period 2008-2012.

The Kyoto Protocol also established several mechanisms to make it easier to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: the Clean Development Mechanism; Joint Implementation; and International Emissions Trading. In essence, these mechanisms enable countries to pay for emission reductions anywhere on the planet. Because climate change is a global problem, the location of the greenhouse gas emission reductions does not affect the environmental effect – reductions are equally good for the climate no matter where they occur.

Further info: http://unfccc.int/text/resource/iuckit/fact21.html