Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a 1997 international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, in an effort to curb global warming. It has been signed and ratified by every country in the world, except the United States, Canada, Afghanistan, Angola, and South Sudan. The protocol uses a graduated system of modest targets, governed by current emissions and national development, to specify the extent to which each country should lower their emissions. It introduced various flexibility mechanisms, like emissions trading, building an economic system around reducing GHG emissions to try and give it value.

Unfortunately the Kyoto Protocol failed due to countries too lazy to get off their butts not finding it feasible to comply.