The Kyoto Protocol was agreed to on a historical premise and the need for making emission targets under it stronger, built on a scientific one. The developed countries had for more than a century occupied the atmospheric space - and therefore the space for economic development - far beyond their equitable share. Kyoto set them emission reduction targets to diminish their hold on the atmosphere and give the developing countries the space to grow out of poverty.
The need for stronger targets for the rich countries came with science showing that there was very little atmospheric capacity left to absorb more greenhouse gases and the rich countries had to take deeper cuts. Science showed the crisis was so deep that even after the rich countries took these deep cuts, the developing countries would have to pay in advance for their future acts - take steps to slow the growth of their future emissions. Read the full report here.
Source: Nitin Sethi, TNN, Cancun.
