The Kyoto Protocol sets legally binding emission targets for industrialised countries without accounting for reductions carried out prior to 2008, the beginning of the first commitment period. There exists only one exception, the project-based Clean Development Mechanism where credits accrue...

In the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, industrialized countries agreed on binding absolute targets for greenhouse gas emissions and on the admission of flexible market-economy instruments - such as emissions trading, joint implementation and the clean development...