Top Three Myths about the Kyoto Protocol

MYTH #1: The outcomes of international policymaking—for example, the diversity of state responses to the Kyoto Protocol—can be explained by looking solely at what happens in the international arena. 

Using a comparative approach that involves both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, Dana Fisher debunks this myth.  By analyzing the responses of Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, Fisher supports the simple notion that, to understand domestic environmental policy-making of a global environmental issue, it is imperative to understand what is playing on the international stage. Conversely, in order to understand international environmental policy-making outcomes, one must look to the domestic policy-making of the various international players. Therefore, the book concludes that the domestic debates within states and the subsequent policy formation have a significantly larger role in international environmental regime formation than many scholars recognize.

MYTH #2: The United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol because of President Bush’s opposition to international environmental regulation and his disdain for multilateralism. 

It is important to note that Bush alone does not have the legal power to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.  The Constitution allocates the power to ratify treaties to the United States Senate.  At this point, the US Senate has on more than one occasion voted against national climate change policies, most recently in 2003.  Fisher finds that a great deal of the opposition to climate change policymaking in the US can be traced back to the role that domestic national resource and energy interests play in national decision-making. 

MYTH #3: The United States stands alone in its opposition to international climate change policy and the Kyoto Protocol. 

Actually, the US is one of four major developed countries that have failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.  As of September 30, 2004, one hundred and twenty-six countries had ratified the protocol.  The ratifying countries represent only 61.6 percent of carbon dioxide emissions of developed countries.  After the Russian Federation’s ratification on September 30, 2004, the Protocol in expected to enter into legal force by the end of the year.