In December 1997, 111 States signed up for the fight against global warming by signing the Kyoto Protocol. The goal is to encourage signatory countries to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases by at least 5%. Some countries quickly committed to going beyond that threshold: the European Union countries promised to reduce gas emissions by 8%, and Japan committed to a 6% reduction. The Protocol came into effect in February 2005 with ratification by Russia, but it appears to have a weak start: the United States, which by itself represents some 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions, has refused to ratify it.