Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement

What the Kyoto Protocol is

It is a treaty under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in Kyoto on December 11, 1997¹. It requires the Parties in Annex I to keep their greenhouse gas emissions within the amounts assigned to them in Annex B, with a view to cutting their combined emissions at least 5% below 1990 in the 2008 to 2012 period¹.

• 1997year it was adopted in Kyoto, on December 11 ¹
• 2005year it entered into force, on February 16 ²
• 192Parties to the Protocol, as checked in November 2026 ²
• 5%minimum cut below 1990 in 2008 to 2012 for countries with a target ¹

To enter into force it needed ratification by at least 55 Parties, including Annex I countries accounting for at least 55% of that group's 1990 CO₂ emissions¹. It met that bar and entered into force on February 16, 2005².

The Protocol also created the Clean Development Mechanism: projects in countries outside Annex I generated certified emission reductions, and countries with targets could use them to meet part of their commitment¹.

The Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gases

Annex A of the Protocol lists six gases, and the Doha Amendment added a seventh for the second period¹³. Each gas warms differently, so they are added up in CO₂ equivalent using the global warming potentials accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)¹.

They are the same seven gases that the Paris Agreement transparency framework asks countries to report in their national inventories, in CO₂ equivalent and with the 100 year potentials of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report⁴. In Mexico, the RENE regulation includes those seven and adds other compounds, such as black carbon⁵.

Its two commitment periods

1. 01

   1997: adoption

   Adopted in Kyoto with targets for the Annex B Parties and a first period from 2008 to 2012¹.

2. 02

   2005: entry into force

   Enters into force on February 16, once the ratifications required by its article 25 are in².

3. 03

   2008 to 2012: first period

   Parties with targets must cut their combined emissions at least 5% below 1990¹.

4. 04

   2012: Doha Amendment

   On December 8 a second period is adopted, 2013 to 2020, with a combined cut of at least 18% below 1990, and NF₃ is added³⁶.

5. 05

   2020: end of the second period

   The Doha Amendment enters into force on December 31, 2020, the last day of the period it covered. It has 148 Parties⁶.

What replaced it in practice: the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, entered into force on November 4, 2016 and has 194 Parties⁷. Its goal is to hold the increase in global average temperature well below 2 °C above pre industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C⁸.

The Kyoto Protocol was not repealed, but its last commitment period ended in 2020³. Countries now submit their targets under Paris, as nationally determined contributions (NDCs)⁸.

Mexico: ratification and commitments

Mexico is not listed in Annex B of the Protocol or of the Doha Amendment, so it had no quantified reduction target under Kyoto¹³. Under Paris it does submit targets: its NDC 3.0, from 2025, is the first set in absolute emissions and replaces the previous target, which was measured against a business as usual scenario⁹.

• 364 to 404million t of net CO₂e in 2035, the unconditional target of the NDC 3.0 ⁹
• 332 to 363million t of net CO₂e in 2035 if international finance and technology arrive ⁹
• 644million t of gross CO₂e at most in 2030, equivalent to the 35% target of the NDC 2.0 ⁹
• 18%of the country's emissions came from industry in 2024, on preliminary data ⁹

The NDC 3.0 covers the seven Kyoto gases plus black carbon and aims for net zero emissions by mid century⁹. For steel, one of its lines of action is to increase the use of scrap as an input in production; another is to promote high efficiency electric arc furnaces⁹. See steel and scrap.

What it means for a company in Mexico

Kyoto and Paris bind countries, not companies. They reach your company through national law: the General Law on Climate Change (Ley General de Cambio Climático), published on June 6, 2012, and its National Emissions Registry regulation¹⁰⁵.

• If your facility is in a sector listed in the regulation and its direct and indirect emissions add up to 25,000 t of CO₂e or more a year, you report to the RENE⁵. See who reports to the RENE and how.
• The report is annual, in the Annual Operating Report (Cédula de Operación Anual, COA), between March 1 and June 30, by gas and in CO₂ equivalent; every 3 years it comes with a verification opinion⁵.
• Even if you do not report to the RENE, you can measure your company's inventory with the GHG Protocol or ISO 14064. See carbon footprint and ISO 14064.
• What you send for recycling goes in scope 3, category 5, of that inventory¹¹. See scope 3: waste and recycling.

Where a recycling certificate fits

Melting scrap instead of ore avoids emissions at the mill. These are avoided emissions: the GHG Protocol says they must not be included in or deducted from the scope 3 inventory and allows them to be reported separately, with evidence that the material was collected, recycled and used, and with the methodology and assumptions behind the calculation¹¹.

Bluegreen issues one certificate per lot, with a folio anyone can verify online. The result is expressed in CO₂ equivalent, the same unit used by the Paris transparency framework and the RENE⁴⁵. The impact is net: it counts what reached the mill, the lower of the origin and destination net weights, and subtracts each haul's emissions (Carta Porte kilometers × tonnes × 100 g of CO₂e per tonne kilometer, the GLEC Framework v3.0 well to wheel factor for a mixed fleet in North America, the ISO 14083 approach)¹²¹³. Yard operations are not yet measured per lot and are not subtracted.