Thank you, Mr. Putin
It’s good to see that the Kyoto Protocol is to come into effect on February 16th next year, despite the American government’s decision not to back it.
America decided not to back the treaty in 2001, because the cost of meeting its targets would be too high for the US economy, which is massively dependent on the fossil fuels that are at the source of the problem. The US contains 4% of the world’s population but produces about 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions (Source: BBC).
Russia has ratified the protocol, although her industry can much less afford the extra costs in the short term, than the American companies.