THE STANDING OF OZONE: SUCCESS OF VIENNA CONVENTION AND MONTREAL PROTOCOL

INTRODUCTION

The Montreal Protocol is an international environmental treaty deigned to protect the ozone layer by reducing the production and consumption (phasing out) of numerous substances known as ‘ozone depleting substances (ODS)’, responsible for the ozone depletion.

The Montreal Protocol was adopted on Sep. 16th, 1987 and entered into force in 1989.

The dual ozone treaties ― Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol are the first universally ratified treaties in the United Nations history with the goal achieved on Sep. 16th, 2009 with the Southeast Asian country, Timor – Leste (East Timor) ratified both the treaties.

In 2014, four subsequent amendments to the Protocol also achieved universal ratification (i.e., London Amendment (1990), Copenhagen Amendment (1992), Montreal Amendment (1997) and Beijing Amendment (1999)).

Under the Convention's Montreal Protocol, the global actors worked together to eliminate 99% of CFCs emissions. And, with this concerted efforts, the ozone layer is now showing definitive signs of healing and is projected to return to 1980 levels by mid – century.

HISTORY

• In 1974, American scientist Sherwood (‘Sherry’) F. Rowland and Mexican scientist Mario J. Molina published an article titled ‘Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethanes: Chlorine atom – catalysed destruction of ozone’ in the journal Nature, which identified and predicted that the continuing release of CFCs into the atmosphere is leading to depletion of the stratospheric ozone. Following this, several countries directed research efforts to measure and track stratospheric ozone levels, including over the Antarctic.
• Following this, Geneva – based World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued the first scientific statement "Modification of the ozone layer due to human activities and some possible geophysical consequences" on the anthropogenic ozone depletion in 1975.
• In March 1977, WMO in collaboration with Nairobi – based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) convened an intergovernmental meeting of experts in the Washington, DC, wherein the first “World Plan of Action” on ozone was adopted. This document emphasized the conduct and coordination of research and monitoring of the ozone layer.?
• In the succeeding years, both organizations (WMO & UNEP) coordinated the preparation of a series of scientific assessments which concluded with Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, 1985) and its Montreal Protocol (1987).

• The day – Sep. 16th, 1987 when the Montreal Protocol was adopted mark as the ‘International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (Ozone Day)’ since 1995.

Furthermore, amendments to the Protocol (London 1990, Copenhagen 1992) required drastic cuts in the use of CFCs, halons and other ozone-depleting substances which were implicated as the main cause of ozone destruction.

In 1994, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina and Paul Crutzen for their pioneering work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.

In 2003, the progress made via the adoption of Montreal Protocol won the praise of then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan as:

In 2005, the largest Antarctic ozone hole, averaging 26.6 million square kilometres (equivalent to thrice the landmass of Canadian territory, approximate) was recorded.

VIENNA CONVENTION

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted after consensus was reached on March 22nd, 1985. It entered into force on September 22nd, 1988 and achieved universal ratification in 2009 – the first international environmental treaty to reach this milestone.

The overall objective of the convention is to protect human health and environment against the effects of ozone depletion.

As a framework convention, it doesn’t establish any specific controls on ODS. Instead, it establishes a general obligation upon the parties to protect the ozone layer (Article 2) and emphasized on the need for international cooperation.

It required parties to take “appropriate measures” against the adverse effects of human – made ozone depletion which are as follows:

1. Adoption of legislative and administrative measures
2. Cooperation on research and scientific assessment
3. Information exchange
4. Development and transfer of technology.

The convention acknowledged the need for preventive action before firm proof of actual harmfulness of ODS was established. Thus, it led to the emergence of precautionary principle/approach in international environmental law.

MONTREAL PROTOCOL

After the culmination of the Vienna Convention, the sovereign agreed to re – convene within 2 years to negotiate a separate protocol with set timelines and targets for phasing out of ozone – depleting substances which came to be known as ‘Montreal Protocol’.

The Protocol focuses on reducing the production and consumption, followed by effective elimination of ozone depleting substances (ODS) or halogenated hydrocarbons, listed in Annexes A, B, C, E and F and scheduled timeline for phase – down and phase – out were provided in the Article 2 of the Protocol. All ODS under the scope of the Protocol contain either chlorine or bromine (substances containing only fluorine don’t harm the ozone layer). One chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the stratosphere. Ozone can be destroyed more quickly than it is naturally created. However, some of the ODS such as nitrous oxide (N2O) is still outside the scope of the Protocol.

The protocol also recognized that the developing countries contributed to ozone depletion to a lesser extent than the developed countries. Hence, a provision to include a grace period is granted under the Article 5 of the Protocol for a developing country for phasing out or down the production and consumption of ODS (mentioned in Annex A). As a result of this provisions, discussions and reduction of ODS under the Protocol is often refer to “Article 5 parties” (developing countries) and to “non – Article 5 parties” (developed countries) in order to set the baseline and reduction targets.

Following are some major amendments made to the Montreal Protocol (pre - Kigali) with some of the prominent progress made upon:

ABOUT KIGALI AMENDMENT

• In order to strengthen the Protocol further, a landmark agreement was reached on October 15th, 2016, at the 28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) of the Montreal Protocol in Kigali (capital city of central African nation, Rwanda).
• The amendment brought hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the scope of the Protocol and sets out baselines and timelines for their phase – down.
• It entered into force on January 2019, with ratification from 138 parties surpassing the tipping point of 20 ratification needed to bring it into the force.
• The amendment aims to reduce the use of HFCs by more than 80 per cent over the next 30 years.

It mark a significant evolution for the Protocol since HFCs, a common alternative to CFCs and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) is not harmful to the ozone layer rather a potent greenhouse gas with high global warming potential (GWP) (100 – 1300 CO2e).

Though, HFCs account for less than 1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, its relatively short atmospheric lifetime (10 – 20 years compared to CO2) and phase - down could reduce temperature changes by 0.5°C by 2100. The reduction is critical to achieve the ambitious goal of Paris Climate Agreement under 1.5°C by the end of the century.

SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL

The adoption and implementation of the Montreal Protocol which led to substantial phase - down of the ODS and reduced UV radiation led to health benefit, avoiding climate change, among others.

Climate Change: Since many ODSs have a high global warming potential (GWP), experts have pointed to greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions stemming from their phase – out under the Montreal Protocol.?Available evidence indicates that through the regulation of ODSs & GHGs, the Montreal Protocol has significantly slowed climate change by reducing the emissions of GHGs from the biosphere. Results from modelling studies, which incorporate data from the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and sea ice, indicate that the implementation of the Montreal Protocol has prevented global warming of 1°C. By 2050, the Montreal Protocol could avert warming of 1.5 °C to 2 °C, over land areas outside polar regions and between 3 °C and 4 °C, over the Arctic.?

UV radiations (Health): As documented by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the Montreal Protocol in 2020, for the past 20 years changes in ultraviolet radiation have been small, because the Montreal Protocol has prevented a continuation of stratospheric ozone depletion that was observed until mid - 1990s. Updated modelling studies suggest that due to Montreal Protocol millions of cases of skin cancers and eye cataracts will be avoided among people born between 1890-2100 in the U.S. alone.?