As a framework convention, the Vienna Convention sets out broad principles . . . It requires states to cooperate on research into the causes and effects of ozone depletion and its possible climatic effects, as well as on alternative technologies; to cooperate on the adoption of legal and policy measures to counteract activities that are harmful to the atmosphere; and to facilitate the transfer of technology and the transmission of information, especially to developing countries.
...while the Montreal Protocol regulates the details. The protocol entered into force on 1 January 1989. As of January 1993, 100 states and the European Community - accounting for over 95% of the worldās consumption of the substances controlled by the Protocol - had become parties to it.
The Montreal Protocol was amended and adjusted in June 1990 and November 1992 to incorporate stronger measures.1 Whereas the Protocol originally obliged parties to reduce their production and consumption of CFCs by 50% by mid-1999 and to freeze their use of halons, the 1990 amendment provides for a complete phase-out of some of the controlled substances by the year 2000. The changes made in 1990 entered into force in 1992. At their 1992 meeting, the parties accelerated the phase-out, banning some gases by 1994 and others by 1996. In addition, they targeted some new substances for phase-out.
The Montreal Protocol regulates the production and use of CFCs, halons, and carbon tetrachloride, which are all greenhouse gases. It obliges states to totally phase out these substances in accordance with the schedule. Because this may also help to reduce the greenhouse effect, many international climate meetings have strongly urged states to ratify the Montreal Protocol. The most relevant mechanisms of the Protocol, as amended in 1990 and 1992, are the following:
A schedule is established for phasing out the target chemicals;
Countries may "exchange" the rights to produce a particular substance as long as the total production permitted by the schedule is not exceeded;
The trade in controlled substances with non-parties will be banned in accordance with a schedule set out by the Protocol. Parties must discourage exports of technologies for producing the controlled substances, and refrain from granting subsidies or aid for such production, to non-parties;
Developing countries whose annual consumption of CFCs and halons is less than 0.3 kilograms per capita may delay their compliance with the control measures of the convention for 10 years if their consumption never exceeds this level. Thus the Protocol establishes a dual standard for developed and developing countries;
Parties must regularly assess and review the provisions of the Protocol by, for example, convening special panels of experts;
An elaborate financing mechanism, including a Multilateral Fund initially containing US$160 million, was set up on an interim basis in January,1991 to provide financial assistance to developing countries. The fund is financed by the developed-country parties and was increased to US$240 million when China and India acceded to the Montreal Protocol. It was established on a permanent basis in 1992;
Various institutional mechanisms were also established, including an Implementation Committee (given a strengthened role in 1992), an Executive Committee, and an Ad Hoc Technical Advisory Committee on Destruction Technologies;
The Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol could serve as a model for the further development of the Climate Convention. Like climate change, damage to the ozone layer is a global environmental issue of considerable complexity. The regulatory approach adopted in this case was to set out general principles in a framework treaty (the Vienna Convention) and to lay down specific rules in the Montreal Protocol. Measures were gradually strengthened as scientific findings influenced the political will to act. Due to the similarities between the two issues, climate change also lends itself to this formula: future protocols could provide more specific measures to strengthen the Convention. Indeed, as some of the problems that the two issues pose for developing countries are also similar, the What is Climate Change Convention already adopts some similar approaches. Some of these problems are that developing countries, although at present producing only a small share of the harmful substances, will produce an increasing share as they develop economically; that developing countries may be impacted more severely than developed countries by climate change, since they have less capacity to adapt; that reducing the consumption of harmful substances used in industrial processes may adversely effect the economic growth of developing countries, but growth is a priority for these countries; and that developing countries will need technical and financial assistance to implement the measures imposed by the treaties.
For further reading:
Lang, Neuhold and Zemanek (eds.), "Environmental Protection and International Law", London (1991), see chapter 6 "Ozone Layer and Climate Change.
Rosencranz and Scott, "Montreal Protocol: Bringing the Developing World on Board", in "Environmental Policy and Law" 20/6 (1990), p.201.
Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (Ozone Secretariat, Nairobi, May 1991; doc. UNEP/OzL.Pro.3/7).
UNEP Environmental Law and Institutions Unit: Environmental Law in UNEP ( Environmental Law Library No. 1, Nairobi 1991).
Report on the 2nd Meeting of the Parties to the Vienna Convention/3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in "Environmental Policy and Law", 21/1990, pp. 196-202, 250-252.
Also contact Secretariat of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol, c/o UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
Notes:
1 The meetings were held in London from 27-29 June 1990 (Document UNEP/OzL.Pro.2/3, 29 June 1990) and in Copenhagen from 23-25 November 1992 (Document UNEP/Ozl.Pro.4/15, 25 November 1992).