It is an environmental agreement signed by 141 nations that agree to work to slow global warming by limiting emissions, cutting them by 5.2 percent by 2012. Each nation has its own target to meet. The protocol was drawn up December 11, 1997, in the ancient capital of Kyoto, Japan, and went into effect on February 16, 2005. The United States is not among the signatories: American officials said the agreement is flawed because large developing countries including India and China were not immediately required to meet specific targets for reduction. Upon the protocol’s enactment, Japan’s prime minister called on non-signatory nations to rethink their participation, saying that there was a need for a “common framework to stop global warming.” Environmentalists echoed his call to action.