It is still unclear whether Russia has decided to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. But reports that Moscow had rejected the proposal refocused international attention on the appalling lack of progress since the agreement was negotiated more than five years ago. Despite the now considerable evidence that global warming is real and getting worse, many, if not most, governments refuse to take the threat seriously.

The Kyoto Protocol is a 1997 agreement that followed two years of difficult negotiations. Some 120 governments signed the accord, which sets targets for countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are considered key contributors to global warming. By 2012, the countries were to reduce those gases by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels. The treaty cannot go into effect, though, until at least 55 countries ratify it, and the list of those who ratify must include industrialized nations that together account for at least 55 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted in 1990.

To date, the industrialized nations that have ratified Kyoto account for an estimated 44.2 percent of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions. In 2001, the United States, which accounts for 36.1 percent of those emissions, said it would not ratify the agreement. Therefore, Moscow's participation became critical as Russia accounts for 17.4 percent. Its ratification of the protocol would surpass the 55 percent threshold.