UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Rich countries are largely off-track in terms of meeting their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the World Bank said in a report released Tuesday.

    The United States accounts for 22 percent of the world's total emissions of Carbon dioxide (CO2), the main man-made cause of global warming, the bank said in its annual report, the Little Green Data Book 2007, which is based on most recent comprehensive data available for 2003.

    The share of the countries of the European Monetary Union (EMU) stands at 10 percent.

    The United States and Japan show "very high increases" in emitting CO2, with 20 and 15 percent respectively between 1990 and2003, while emissions of the EMU countries grew 3 percent.

    Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries agreed to cut their emissions by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

    Most industrial countries will not meet the target, and the United States never signed the protocol, said the report, which was launched at a meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

    It said CO2 emissions worldwide topped 27 billion metric tons in 2003, an increase of 19 percent over 1990 levels.

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