COP3 was the third annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Kyoto, Japan from 1–11 December 1997. It produced the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty to impose legally binding greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction commitments on industrialised countries.
The Protocol required so-called Annex I parties (developed economies and economies in transition) to cut their aggregate emissions of six GHGs — CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs and SF₆ — by an average of roughly 5% below 1990 levels during the first commitment period, 2008–2012. Individual targets varied: the European Community accepted −8%, the United States −7%, and Japan −6%, while some countries were allowed to increase emissions. Developing countries, including China and India, took on no binding reduction targets, reflecting the Convention's principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).
To lower compliance costs, the Protocol introduced three flexibility mechanisms:
- International Emissions Trading (Article 17)
- Joint Implementation (Article 6), allowing Annex I parties to earn credits from projects in other Annex I countries
- The Clean Development Mechanism (Article 12), allowing credited emission-reduction projects in developing countries
The Kyoto Protocol was opened for signature in March 1998 but entered into force only on 16 February 2005, after Russia's ratification met the threshold requiring 55 parties accounting for at least 55% of Annex I 1990 CO₂ emissions. The United States signed but never ratified the treaty; the Senate had pre-emptively passed the Byrd–Hagel Resolution in July 1997 opposing any agreement that excluded developing-country commitments. Canada withdrew in 2011.
COP3 remains a landmark in climate diplomacy as the first operationalisation of binding mitigation duties, and its architecture directly shaped subsequent negotiations leading to the Doha Amendment (2012, second commitment period) and the Paris Agreement adopted at COP21 in 2015.
Example
At COP3 in December 1997, then-US Vice President Al Gore travelled to Kyoto to help broker the final text, though the resulting Protocol was never submitted to the US Senate for ratification.
Frequently asked questions
No. It was adopted on 11 December 1997 but only entered into force on 16 February 2005, after Russia's ratification triggered the 55-party / 55%-of-Annex-I-emissions threshold.
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