EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -By 1997, 84 countries had signed the agreement, and 46 had ratified it. Of the major emitters, only the European Union and Japan joined, while China, Australia, and the United States decided not to.

Detailed explanation-2: -On December 11, 1997, delegates from more than 150 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement to lower the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997. The Protocol shares the objective and institutions of the Convention.

Detailed explanation-4: -Annex I Parties include the industrialized countries that were members of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic States, and several Central and Eastern European States.