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10 • Green Project Management

PLAN

ACT DO

CHECK

Figure 1.2
PDCA cycle.
ISO 14004:2004 takes the guidelines a step further and “provides guid-
ance on the establishment, implementation, maintenance and improve-
ment of an environmental management system and its coordination with
other management systems.” The guidelines have recently been revised in
the hopes that they will be more easily understood, making them more
“user friendly” and further promoting the use of environmental manage-
ment systems.

Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of
the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized coun-
tries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions. These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels
over the five-year period 2008–2012.
The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that
while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize
GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. 6

It was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997, and went into force
on February 16, 2005. In total, 184 “parties of the convention” have rati-
7
fied the agreement. While the United States has signed the agreement, it
has yet to ratify it and therefore is not bound by the agreement. For com-
plete information on the Kyoto Protocol and how nations can participate,
go to http://unfccc.int/2860.php.