The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, ratified by approximately 200 countries, that expects from some countries strong and differentiated commitments for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which, according with the scientific community, are the cause off global warming.

This regulation was discussed and accorded in 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, and it came into effect in February 16, 2005, after Russia’s adhesion.

The Kyoto Protocol determines that developed countries reduce the emission of greenhouse gas in their territories in at least 5,2% during the 2008 to 2012 period, based on the emission levels of 1990.

The Protocol establishes, in article 12, the Clean Development Mechanism, a flexible mechanism that helps developed countries to reach their reduction goals.

Through CDM, projects that reduce GEE emissions implemented in developing countries may generate carbon credits, a kind of “environmental commodity” that can be commercialized with the developed countries, which buy those credits with the objective of diminishing and thus fulfilling their reduction goals.

Press here and read Kyoto Protocol’s full text