Why the USA did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol?
As usual, USA had its own whims, regardless of the need of the planet. US President George W Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, saying implementing it would gravely damage the US economy. His administration dubbed the treaty “fatally flawed”, partly because it does not require developing countries to commit to emissions reductions. USA apart, Australia is the only Annex 1 country which has not ratified the Protocol. What is CDM(Clean Development Mechanism)? CDM under Art 12 of the Kyoto Protocol allows Annex I (industrialised) countries to meet their emission reduction targets by paying for green house gas emission reduction in non-Annex I (developing) countries. What are CDM projects? A typical CDM project substitutes fossil fuel-based power generation with renewable energy or a project that improves existing energy efficiency levels. For example, a company in India (a non Annex I country) switches from coal power to biomass. The CDM board certifies that by doing this the
