Negotiated in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, the Kyoto Protocol was a landmark in international climate diplomacy. It was the first globally coordinated major treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the pressing issue of climate change.
Adopted under the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it was the result of growing scientific evidence of human-driven global warming, particularly following the first central Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 1990, which warned of rising temperatures due to carbon emissions.
The Protocol was proposed to set legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions since, historically, these countries were the major contributors to atmospheric pollution.
