Overview

Over the past few decades, climate change has become a global issue as a result of environmental pollution caused by human activities (e.g. the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use). This pollution comprises large amounts of carbon dioxide (“CO₂”) that has concentrated in the atmosphere and that has ultimately increased the average global temperature by a little more than 1° Celsius already.[1] This concentration of CO₂ represents a major component of the greenhouse gases (“GHG”) that the atmosphere is filled with and which scientists say are one of the most important causes of increased global warming and climate change.[2] This GHG issue was acknowledged for the first time as a source of worldwide environmental pollution at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 and later in 1997 when the Kyoto Protocol started to mandate that state actors should adopt policies and measures aimed at limiting and reducing their CO₂ emissions.[3] Several studies, particularly ones conducted in urban areas, have also demonstrated that motorized vehicles are primary actors in terms of the emissions problem, and several datasets have revealed that motor-vehicle exhaust gases, as a source of air pollution, make a contribution of 60% - 70% in terms of total CO₂ emissions.[4]