Query: "Each unit of CO2 you put into the atmosphere has less and less of a warming impact.

Relevant passages:
Kyoto Protocol <=SEP=> The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions , based on the fact that ( a ) global warming exists and ( b ) human-made CO2 emissions have caused it . The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto , Japan , on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005 . There are currently 192 parties ( Canada withdrew effective December 2012 ) to the Protocol .   The Kyoto Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to `` a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system '' ( Art. 2 ) . The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities : it puts the obligation to reduce current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere .   The Protocol 's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012 . A second commitment period was agreed on in 2012 , known as the Doha Amendment to the protocol , in which 37 countries have binding targets : Australia , the European Union ( and its 28 member states ) , Belarus , Iceland , Kazakhstan , Liechtenstein , Norway , Switzerland , and Ukraine . Belarus , Kazakhstan and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from the Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets . Japan , New Zealand and Russia have participated in Kyoto 's first-round but have not taken on new targets in the second commitment period . Other developed countries without second-round targets are Canada ( which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 ) and the United States ( which has not ratified the Protocol ) . As of July 2016 , 66 states have accepted the Doha Amendment , while entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states . Of the 37 countries with binding commitments , 7 have ratified .   Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020 . This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement , which is a separate instrument under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto protocol .

Emissions trading <=SEP=> Emissions trading or cap and trade is a government-mandated , market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants . In contrast to command-and-control environmental regulations such as best available technology ( BAT ) standards and government subsidies , cap and trade ( CAT ) schemes are a type of flexible environmental regulation that allows organizations to decide how best to meet policy targets . Various countries , states and groups of companies have adopted such trading systems , notably for mitigating climate change .   A central authority ( usually a governmental body ) allocates or sells a limited number of permits to discharge specific quantities of a specific pollutant per time period . Polluters are required to hold permits in amount equal to their emissions . Polluters that want to increase their emissions must buy permits from others willing to sell them . Financial derivatives of permits can also be traded on secondary markets .   In theory , polluters who can reduce emissions most cheaply will do so , achieving the emission reduction at the lowest cost to society . Cap and trade is meant to provide the private sector with the flexibility required to reduce emissions while stimulating technological innovation and economic growth .   There are active trading programs in several air pollutants . For greenhouse gases , which cause climate change , permit units are often called carbon credits . The largest greenhouse gases trading program is the European Union Emission Trading Scheme , which trades primarily in European Union Allowances ( EUAs ) ; the Californian scheme trades in California Carbon Allowances , the New Zealand scheme in New Zealand Units and the Australian scheme in Australian Units . The United States has a national market to reduce acid rain and several regional markets in nitrogen oxides .

Incineration <=SEP=> Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials . Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as `` thermal treatment '' . Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash , flue gas and heat . The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste , and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas . The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere . In some cases , the heat generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power .   Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy ( WtE ) technologies such as gasification , pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion . While incineration and gasification technologies are similar in principle , the energy product from incineration is high-temperature heat whereas combustible gas is often the main energy product from gasification . Incineration and gasification may also be implemented without energy and materials recovery .   In several countries , there are still concerns from experts and local communities about the environmental effect of incinerators ( see arguments against incineration ) .   In some countries , incinerators built just a few decades ago often did not include a materials separation to remove hazardous , bulky or recyclable materials before combustion . These facilities tended to risk the health of the plant workers and the local environment due to inadequate levels of gas cleaning and combustion process control . Most of these facilities did not generate electricity .   Incinerators reduce the solid mass of the original waste by 80 -- 85 % and the volume ( already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks ) by 95 -- 96 % , depending on composition and degree of recovery of materials such as metals from the ash for recycling . This means that while incineration does not completely replace landfilling , it significantly reduces the necessary volume for disposal . Garbage trucks often reduce the volume of waste in a built-in compressor before delivery to the incinerator . Alternatively , at landfills , the volume of the uncompressed garbage can be reduced by approximately 70 % by using a stationary steel compressor , albeit with a significant energy cost . In many countries , simpler waste compaction is a common practice for compaction at landfills .   Incineration has particularly strong benefits for the treatment of certain waste types in niche areas such as clinical wastes and certain hazardous wastes where pathogens and toxins can be destroyed by high temperatures . Examples include chemical multi-product plants with diverse toxic or very toxic wastewater streams , which can not be routed to a conventional wastewater treatment plant .   Waste combustion is particularly popular in countries such as Japan where land is a scarce resource . Denmark and Sweden have been leaders in using the energy generated from incineration for more than a century , in localised combined heat and power facilities supporting district heating schemes . In 2005 , waste incineration produced 4.8 % of the electricity consumption and 13.7 % of the total domestic heat consumption in Denmark . A number of other European countries rely heavily on incineration for handling municipal waste , in particular Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Germany , and France .

Human impact on the environment <=SEP=> Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments , biodiversity , and other resources . The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity . The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian geologist Alexey Pavlov , and was first used in English by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in reference to human influences on climax plant communities . The atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen introduced the term `` Anthropocene '' in the mid-1970s . The term is sometimes used in the context of pollution emissions that are produced as a result of human activities but applies broadly to all major human impacts on the environment .

Physical impacts of climate change <=SEP=> This article is about the physical impacts of climate change . For some of these physical impacts , their effect on social and economic systems are also described .   This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC . In their usage , `` climate change '' refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties , and that persists for extended periods , typically decades or longer ( IPCC , 2007d :30 ) . The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes and/or the result of human activity .