Negotiating convenience
Two decades of compromises on swift climate action have not been enough to keep the US at the table
December 1997 | Kyoto Protocol is adopted during the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Kyoto, Japan
November 1998 | A Plan of Action for the implementation of Kyoto Protocol is created. Under US
influence, a cumulative target of mere 5 per cent reduction by 2012 against 1990 baseline is set, but China and India escape emission reduction targets
July 2001 | George W Bush pulls the US out of the Kyoto Protocol citing the non-inclusion of China and India from emission reduction
commitments
February 2005 | Kyoto Protocol comes into force with weak and unambitious targets for the developed countries
December 2007 | The Bali Road Map is adopted as a two-year process to finalise a binding
agreement in 2009 in Copenhagen. Despite being a part of the negotiations, the US does not announce any intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol December 2009 | The US is instrumental in drafting the Copenhagen Accord, which is not adopted. The Accord does not commit countries to a binding successor to Kyoto Protocol, which would end in 2012, resulting in an even weaker deal than Kyoto November 2010 | At the CoP meet in Cancun, the US pledges of emission cuts of 17 per cent by 2020 against 2005, 30 per cent emission reduction by 2025 and a 42 per cent emission reduction by 2030, in line with the goal to reduce emissions by 83 per cent by 2050, the lowest for any developed nation
26 Nov-8 Dec 2012 | At Doha summit, Kyoto Protocol extended. US still does not adopt it
December 2013 | At Warsaw Summit, countries agree for
national level climate action plans called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), climate regime would now be based on self-differentiation
March 31, 2015 | US submits its NDC with targets 26-28 per cent by 2025 against 2005 levels, even lower than its Cancun commitment
December 2015 | Paris Agreement is adopted on 12 December 2015, re-established the benchmark of limiting global warming till 2 degree and strive
for 1.5 degree Celcius
September 3, 2016 | The US, under President Barack Obama, ratifies the Paris Agreement
May 1, 2017 | In its federal budget, US announces it will not fulfil its financial pledge of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund June 2, 2017 | The US under President Trump pulls out of the Agreement calling it unfair and blaming China and India