Developed countries typically demand cleaner environment compared to developing countries and as a consequence have stricter environmental regulations, independent of environmental regulations in developing countries. But when it came to the Kyoto protocol on reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, why did developed countries like USA, Australia etc. refuse to act independently and ratify the protocol in the absence of guarantees by developing countries like China, India etc. to substantially regulate their own greenhouse emissions? How does this contribute to the global tragedy of commons?