The EU-15 has reduced a total of 11.7% domestic land, not counting further reductions in carbon sinks (LULUCF) and international credits. The agreement is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, which has not set legally binding restrictions on emissions or enforcement mechanisms. Only parties to the UNFCCC can become parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 at the third meeting of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 3) in Kyoto (July 23, 2001 – Negotiators from 178 countries meet in Germany and agree to adopt the protocol without U.S. participation. An adaptation fund has been set up to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries parties to the protocol. During the first commitment period, the fund was primarily funded by a portion of the proceeds from the CDM project. For the second commitment period, the international emissions trading system and joint implementation would also provide the Fund with a 2% share of revenues. The protocol was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, when greenhouse gases quickly threatened our climate, life on Earth and the planet itself. Today, the Kyoto Protocol continues to live in other forms and its issues are still being discussed. After a series of lectures entangled in differences of opinion, the delegates of COP21, held in Paris in 2015, signed a comprehensive but non-binding agreement to limit the rise in global average temperature to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, while maintaining this increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The pioneering agreement, signed by the 196 signatories of the UNFCCC, effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.

In addition, a review of progress every five years and the development of a $100 billion fund by 2020 – which was to be replenished annually – was imposed to help developing countries implement technologies that are not generated by greenhouse gases. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol – an agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – is the only legally binding treaty in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A new climate agreement was needed to maintain the international process to combat climate change beyond 2020. This was adopted at the Paris COP in 2015 in the form of a «Paris Agreement», which for the first time contained a specific target to limit global warming to a level well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels of 1750. Ratified countries have set their own reduction targets, with a review and strengthening of efforts every five years to combat climate change. In October 2016, the required number of at least 55 ratified countries responsible for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions was reached, meaning the agreement could enter into force. Barker et al. (2007, p. 79) have evaluated the literature on cost estimates of the Kyoto Protocol. [117] Due to the United States` non-participation in the Kyoto Treaty, the cost estimates were significantly lower than the estimates of the previous IPCC Third Assessment Report. Without the participation of the United States and using the Kyoto flexible mechanisms fully, the cost was estimated to be less than 0.05% of Schedule B GDP. This is compared to previous estimates of 0.1 to 1.1%.

Without the use of flexible mechanisms, costs were estimated to be less than 0.1% without U.S. participation. This is compared to previous estimates of 0.2 to 2%. These cost estimates were considered to be based on a great deal of evidence and convergence in the literature. Andorra, Palestine, South Sudan, the United States and Canada are the only parties to the UNFCCC who are not parties to the protocol after their withdrawal on December 15, 2012. In addition, the protocol is not applied to the UNFCCC observer of the Holy See. Although the Kingdom of the Netherlands has approved the protocol for