Editing Kyoto Protocol (section)

===Views on the flexibility mechanisms===

{{Further|Flexible Mechanisms#Views on the flexibility mechanisms|carbon emission trading}}

Another area which has been commented on is the role of the Kyoto [[flexibility mechanisms]] – [[carbon emission trading]], [[Joint Implementation]], and the [[Clean Development Mechanism]] (CDM).<ref name="toth flexibility mechanisms">
Toth ''et al.'' summarize the arguments for and against flexibility: {{citation
 |chapter-url             = http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg3/441.htm
 |title           = Sec 10.4.4. Where Should the Response Take Place? The Relationship between Domestic Mitigation and the Use of International Mechanisms
 |chapter         = Ch 10: Decision-making Frameworks
 |last1           = Toth
 |first1          = F. L.
 |display-authors = etal
 |url-status         = dead
 |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20120117032405/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg3/441.htm
 |archive-date     = 17 January 2012
 |df              = dmy-all
}}, in {{harvnb|IPCC TAR WG3|2001}}
</ref><ref>
{{citation
 |chapter-url             = http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg3/059.htm
 |title           = Sec 1.3.3 How Has Global Climate Policy Treated Equity?
 |chapter         = Ch 1: Setting the Stage: Climate Change and Sustainable Development
 |last1           = Banuri
 |first1          = T.
 |display-authors = etal
 |url-status         = dead
 |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20121030113019/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg3/059.htm
 |archive-date     = 30 October 2012
 |df              = dmy-all
}}, in {{harvnb|IPCC TAR WG3|2001}}
</ref> The flexibility mechanisms have attracted both positive and negative comments.<ref>
{{citation
 | title=Part III: How good (or bad) are the Mechanisms?
}}, in {{harvnb|Carbon Trust|2009|pp=53–79}}
</ref><ref>
{{Citation
 |date      = 5 November 2007
 |last      = Schneider
 |first     = L.
 |title     = Is the CDM fulfilling its environmental and sustainable development objectives? An evaluation of the CDM and options for improvement. A report prepared for the WWF
 |chapter   = Ch 5: Overall conclusions
 |pages     = 72–73
 |publisher = Institute for Applied Ecology
 |location  = Berlin, Germany
 |chapter-url       = http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/climate_carbon_energy/energy_solutions/resources/?118000/An-evaluation-of-the-CDM-and-options-for-improvement
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130415150840/http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/climate_carbon_energy/energy_solutions/resources/?118000/An-evaluation-of-the-CDM-and-options-for-improvement
|url-status  = dead
|archive-date = 15 April 2013
}}
</ref><ref>
{{harvnb|Spash|2010}}
</ref>

One of the arguments made in favour of the flexibility mechanisms is that they can reduce the costs incurred by Annex I Parties in meeting their Kyoto commitments.<ref name="toth flexibility mechanisms"/> Criticisms of flexibility have, for example, included the ineffectiveness of emissions trading in promoting investment in non-fossil energy sources,<ref>{{citation
 | author=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
 | title=World Economic and Social Survey 2009: Promoting Development, Saving the Planet
 | chapter=VI. Financing the development response to climate change
 | year=2009
 | page=162
 | chapter-url=https://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/wess2009files/wess09/wess2009.pdf
 | publisher=United Nations
 | location=New York, USA
 | isbn=978-92-1-109159-5
 | access-date=28 June 2017
 | archive-date=17 June 2013
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617053100/http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/wess2009files/wess09/wess2009.pdf
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref> and adverse impacts of CDM projects on local communities in developing countries.<ref>
{{harvnb|Spash|2010|p=185}}
</ref>

China, India, Indonesia and Brazil were not required to reduce their CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. The remaining signatory countries were not obliged to implement a common framework nor specific measures, but to reach an emission reduction target for which they can benefit of a [[secondary market]] for carbon credits multilaterally exchanged from each other.<ref name="OCLC 1027999644" /> The [[Emissions-trading]] Scheme (ETS) allowed countries to host polluting industries and to buy from other countries the property of their environmental merits and virtuous patterns.<ref name="OCLC 1027999644">{{cite book | author =Geoffrey Wells| author2 = Janet Ratnanunga | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V9K5XphOdukC&pg=PA89 | title = Sustainable Business: Theory and Practice of Business Under Sustainability Principles | page = 89 | publisher = Edward Elgar Publishing | date = January 1, 2013 | isbn = 9781781001868 | oclc =  1027999644 | chapter = 5 - Carbon accounting and carbon auditing for business}}</ref>

A 2021 review considers both the institutional design and the political strategies that have affected the adoption of the Kyoto protocol. It concludes that the Kyoto protocol's relatively small impact on global carbon dioxide emissions reflects a number of factors, including "deliberate political strategy, unequal power, and the absence of leadership" among and within nations.<ref name="Stoddard"/> The efforts of fossil fuel interests and conservative think tanks to spread [[disinformation]] and [[climate change denial]] have influenced public opinion and political action both within the United States and beyond it. The direct lobbying of fossil fuel companies and their funding of political actors have slowed political action to address climate change at regional, national, and international levels.<ref name="Stoddard">{{cite journal |last1=Stoddard |first1=Isak |display-authors=etal |last2=Anderson |first2=Kevin |last3=Capstick |first3=Stuart |last4=Carton |first4=Wim |last5=Depledge |first5=Joanna |last6=Facer |first6=Keri |last7=Gough |first7=Clair |last8=Hache |first8=Frederic |last9=Hoolohan |first9=Claire |last10=Hultman |first10=Martin |last11=Hällström |first11=Niclas |last12=Kartha |first12=Sivan |last13=Klinsky |first13=Sonja |last14=Kuchler |first14=Magdalena |last15=Lövbrand |first15=Eva |last16=Nasiritousi |first16=Naghmeh |last17=Newell |first17=Peter |last18=Peters |first18=Glen P. |last19=Sokona |first19=Youba |last20=Stirling |first20=Andy |last21=Stilwell |first21=Matthew |last22=Spash |first22=Clive L. |last23=Williams |first23=Mariama |title=Three Decades of Climate Mitigation: Why Haven't We Bent the Global Emissions Curve? |journal=Annual Review of Environment and Resources |date=18 October 2021 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=653–689 |doi=10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-011104 |hdl=1983/93c742bc-4895-42ac-be81-535f36c5039d |s2cid=233815004 |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/305689845/Full_text_PDF_final_published_version_.pdf |access-date=31 August 2022 |language=en |issn=1543-5938 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>