| Description | Kyoto Protocol was adopted at COP 3 in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997.
The complexity of the negotiations, however, meant that considerable “unfinished business” remained even after the Kyoto Protocol itself was adopted. The Protocol sketched out the basic features of its “mechanisms” and compliance system, for example, but did not explain the all-important rules of how they would operate. Although 84 countries signed the Protocol, indicating that they intended to ratify, many were reluctant to actually do so and bring the Protocol into force before having a clearer picture of the treaty’s rulebook. |