It is the only developed country not to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and is still resisting a legally binding international deal.

VOA: standard.2009.11.04

On the last day, after intense negotiations, the meeting agreed an important new international protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation (known as Access and Benefit-Sharing, ABS).

UNESCO: Global Deal to Protect Nature

Under the protocol, international and national observers would pay regular visits to prisons in countries that sign up.

ECONOMIST: Now, battles on abortion and torture

The Montreal Protocol is the international agreement designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out production of Cfc's and halons.

BBC: News | Sci/Tech | Ozone hole reaches record size