Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica

Montreal Protocol on Ozone

Sep 22 2002 (IPS) - On environmental issues, the nations of the world seem to have a hard time reaching consensus, except in the case of the Montreal Protocol, which has become the symbol of the fact that treaties can be effective in solving problem created by humanity, in this instance, the deterioration of the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed in 1987 and currently some 180 nations have pledged to comply with reduction targets in the production and use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbon gases), halons and methyl bromide, whose presence in the atmosphere is considered the main cause of the thinning of the ozone layer.

Coinciding with the World Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, Sep 16, the preliminary conclusion of a scientific study (PDF file) about the problem were released. The experts say the signatory nations are complying with the Montreal Protocol and that the ozone layer could begin to recover by the end of the decade, but warn that continued compliance with the international treaty is essential.

The problem of the thinning ozone layer became a public issue in the early 1980s, and in 1983 world leaders signed the Vienna Convention, the first legal instrument to promote actions for preserving the ozone layer. But at that time, it was not seen as an urgent issue. Just 20 countries participated.

With time, the problem of the ozone hole that appears regularly over Antarctica became more widely known. Scientists warned that the thinning of the ozone layer would allow excessive ultraviolet rays to reach the Earth's surface, a threat to all life forms on the planet.

The Montreal Protocol entered into force in 1989 when 29 countries plus the European Union, producers at the time of 89 percent of the ozone-depleting substances, had ratified the treaty.

Today, one of the key aspects of the Protocol is the participation of developing countries in meeting the reduction targets. Developing nations have until 2010 to halt all use of materials that are damaging to the ozone layer.

In addition to the Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Protocol has given rise to other entities, such as the Multilateral Fund, which helps poor countries implement the technological conversions necessary to replace the use of ozone-depleting gases.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank also have projects oriented in this direction, towards compliance with the targets established in the Montreal Protocol