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阅读理解精讲精炼12 54. Durban — Canada Monday became the first country to pull out of the historic Kyoto Protocol (京都议定书), inescapably scarring the global anticlimate change efforts. The Kyoto Protocol, which set different duties for all countries to cut emissions (排放), states that different countries should reduce their collective greenhouse emissions accordingly. However, the United States refused to sign the protocol in 2001, and is the only developed country that has not agreed to sign it. The move has cast a shadow over the global community, and has made some other developed nations hesitate to cut their emissions. To add fuel to the fire, Canada, became the first to call it quits, with the deadline of the first commitment period (20082017) approaching. The biggest concern at this moment is whether other developed countries would follow suit. Over the past four years, a drama has unfolded among developed countries over the emissions cuts and offering support to their developing partners. The Umbrella Group, consisting of Japan, Canada, Australia, the United States and other developed countries, hesitated and even backed away from their positions under certain excuses. The first one quoted by Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent is that emission cuts damage the economy. Still another is requiring China and India to have the same duty of cutting emissions as developed countries. | 
