Regulations To Control Ozone Depleting Substances

Drawing on the experience of 58 developed and developing countries around the globe, this guidebook provides a concise overview of the ozone protection regulations. Besides providing a core knowledge about regulations worldwide, it should also stimulate the reader to further investigate different policy options and facilitate contact with focal points in other countries who already have experience with developing similar measures.

For two decades, scientists have been warning that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons (bromine-containing fluorocarbons) may deplete the stratospheric ozone shield that screens out some of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays and thus regulates the amounts which reach the Earth's surface. CFCs have been used as refrigerants, solvents, foam blowing agents, and outside the United States, as aerosol propellants; Halons are used primarily as fire-fighting agents. Increased radiation could result in an increase in skin cancers, suppression of the human immune system, and decreased productivity of terrestrial and aquatic organisms, including some commercially important crops. This book deals with implementation, policy issues and phase out of methyl bromide. In September 1987, 47 countries (including the United States) agreed to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which first required controls on the world's consumption of ozone depleting substances. Over 160 countries have signed on to the Protocol, whose phasedown schedule for developed countries was accelerated twice and completely phased out Halon production at the end of 1994 and CFC production at the end of 1995. The Protocol's coverage has also been extended to include hydrochlorofluorocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing substances such as some solvents and methyl bromide, a widely used soil fumigant.

As of March 2003 nearly every government in the world - 184 - has ratified the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer treaty and become party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that depletes the Ozone Layer. This handbook is a guide for decision makers in developing countries to design effective policies to enable them to meet their obligations under the Montreal Protocol. Experience has shown that a strong national policy framework is necessary for the sustained permaneent reduction and phase-out of ODSs for which this handbook provides the guidance for planning, desgning and implementing of such policy frameworks at the national level.

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.