A U.N. panel on climate change predicts industrialized countries' economic growth will be cut 0.2 to 2 percentage points if they reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to the levels agreed to under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, according to a study obtained by Kyodo News.
If the trading of emission rights is implemented, the rate at which growth will slow will be kept to within 0.1 to 1.1 percentage points, estimates the final report drafted by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
At the 1997 U.N. conference on climate change in Kyoto, developed nations agreed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels between 2002 and 2012.