The Obama administration is voicing opposition to using the Kyoto Protocol as a basis for a new climate deal. On Wednesday, US climate negotiator Jonathan Pershing said Kyoto should be scrapped because it’s outdated and doesn’t require developing countries to cut emissions. The US is the only major industrial nation not to ratify Kyoto since its inception in 1990. At an energy summit in Mexico, the head of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Kandeh Yumkella, said those nations least responsible for global warming are suffering its worst effects.

Kandeh Yumkella: “Climate change continues to punish the poorest of the poor, the so-called bottom billion. It continues to ravage those who contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions. This year alone, millions of people are at risk from floods in India, China, Burkina Faso, to typhoons in Philippines.”