By signing the Kyoto Protocol, the Netherlands has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is an elaboration of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The name Kyoto comes from the name of the Japanese city where the 1997 climate conference took place. All EU member states and 164 other countries pledged in the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eight percent compared to 2008 in the period 2012-1990.
The amount of greenhouse gases must decrease because they contribute to global warming. At the climate conference in Doha in 2012, it was agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020; Agreements were made in Paris (December 2015) for the period after 2020.
