Ozone Layer Protection

In the 1970s the world became aware of a huge danger: the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer by CFCs escaping into the atmosphere, and the damage this could do to human health and the food chain. So great was the threat that by 1987 the UN had succeeded in coordinating an international treaty to phase out emissions; which, over the following 15 years has been implemented. It has been hailed as an outstanding success. It needed the participation of all the parties: governments, industry, scientists, campaigners, NGOs and the media, and is a model for future treaties. This volume provides the authoritative and comprehensive history of the whole process from the earliest warning signs to the present. It is an invaluable record for all those involved and a necessary reference for future negotiations to a wide range of scholars, students and professionals.

This summary report describes why and how Canadians have made ozone protection a top priority. The report highlights the many issues of ozone depletion: the history, causes, possible solutions and what Canadians are doing in response to the threat of ozone loss. It explains the disturbing potential consequences of ozone destruction, as well as the challenges Canadians and other world citizens have to face to fully support ozone protection programs.

Written by the Senior Legal Counsel of the Ozone Secretariat, this book critically examines the implementation of the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This successful Protocol represents a dynamic legal regime that has made significant contributions to the progressive development of international environmental law resulting from innovative legal approaches, unparalleled in the history of treaty making, such as the use of framework treaties, simplified treaty amendment procedures and Ã?«soft lawÃ?Â- instruments. The author addresses issues related to environmental governance, environmental financing and the non-compliance procedure. The Montreal Protocol has considerably influenced subsequent multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as they have embraced similar financial mechanisms and non-compliance regimes. As the Montreal Protocol plays an important role in the development of international environmental law, a book that specifically deals with this significant Protocol cannot fail to be of importance to anyone interested in this area of law.

Protecting the Ozone Layer: Lessons, Models, and Prospects Since the mid-1980s, the international community has adopted several significant instruments designed to reverse the degradation of the life support systems of the planet. None of these international agreements have been as successful as the 1987 Montreal Protocol in creating the incentives and mechanisms for protecting the ozone layer. Through the efforts of industry, government and public interest groups, national commitments and achievements have progressed further and faster than expected, while the list of controlled chemicals has expanded. Now in its second decade, the Protocol enters a crucial phase of its implementation. Protecting the Ozone Layer: Lessons, Models, and Prospects presents a wealth of information about the scientific, legal-political, and technological hurdles that we will have to overcome if humanity is to reverse its self-destructive course. The technology section in particular should appeal to industries affected by ozone layer protection as well as those affected by climate protection, since this is the first ozone publication featuring insights by the companies that spearheaded the major technological breakthroughs. Every initiative to improve the environmental performance of industry has been accompanied by pronouncements of economic devastation, from acid rain to auto emissions standards, from auto mileage improvements to the protection of the ozone layer. Each new initiative brought claims from industry that this situation was different, yet none of their predictions have come true. At a time when industry fights efforts to protect the environment, the ozone experience shows both how technical breakthroughs have enabled environmental protection policies to work in the past and how they will work again in the future. Protecting the Ozone Layer: Lessons, Models, and Prospects is the product of a Colloquium that was organized in September 1997 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol. Contributions have been gathered from researchers and practitioners in the field, including some of the very same scientists whose work awakened the international community to the seriousness of the danger that humanity now faces. Other contributors include the scholars and diplomats who wrote and negotiated the text of the Protocol and its amendments, and the key figures who have been influential in convincing industry to support the process.

'Imagine the pride of earning the Nobel Prize for warning that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer. Then imagine that citizens, policymakers, and business executives heeded the warning and transformed markets to protect the earth. This book is the story of why we can all be optimistic about the future if we are willing to be brave and dedicated world citizens.' MARIO MOLINA, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor, University of California This book tells how the Montreal Protocol, the most successful global environmental agreement so far, stimulated the development and worldwide transfer of technologies to protect the ozone layer.Technology transfer is the crux of the 230 international environmental treaties and is essential to fighting climate change. While debate rages about obstacles to technology transfer, until now there has been no comprehensive assessment of what actually works to remove the obstacles. The authors, leaders in the field, assess over 1000 technology transfer projects funded under the Montreal Protocol s Multilateral Fund and the Global Environment Facility, and identify lessons that can be applied to technology transfer for climate change."