Ozone Depletion International Agreements

The ciesin thematic guide to ozone depletion and global environmental change provides an overview of key concepts and issues related to ozone depletion. Given all these factors, and more, the Montreal Protocol is considered one of the most successful environmental agreements of all time. What the parties to the protocol have accomplished since 1987 is unprecedented and remains an inspiring example of what international cooperation can achieve in its best form. The Global Alliance of Nations for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is the most effective measure to prevent the depletion of the ozone layer over Australia. Australia accounts for less than one per cent of global emissions of ozone-depleting substances. Promoting and supporting other countries through our participation in the Montreal Protocol is the best way to reduce ozone depletion. Australia is active in the Multilateral Fund and strives to ensure that it continues to benefit as much as possible from the protection of the ozone layer. Australia participates in funding through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is a member of the 14-member Executive Committee that manages the Fund profitably. The Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances is a global agreement to protect the world`s ozone layer by depleting the chemicals that deplete them. This operating plan covers both the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances. The pioneering agreement was signed in 1987 and came into force in 1989.

As a result of the measures taken under the Montreal Protocol, ODS emissions are decreasing and the ozone layer is expected to be fully healed by the middle of the 21st century. For more information on the current state of the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol also provided other important environmental benefits, as well as contributing to the protection and restoration of the ozone layer. In particular, the abandonment of ozone-depleting substances, which are often potent gases from global warming, has benefited the global climate by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. The parties to the Montreal Protocol amended the protocol to allow, among other things, the control of new chemicals and the establishment of a financial mechanism to allow developing countries to comply. The Montreal Protocol also contains a unique adaptation provision that allows the parties to the protocol to react quickly to new scientific information and agree to accelerate the reduction of chemicals already covered by the protocol. These adaptations will automatically apply to all countries that have ratified the protocol. Since then, the Montreal Protocol has been strengthened several times by the control of additional ozone depletion substances (SOOs) and by the postponement of the date when already regulated substances must disappear. In addition to the adaptations and amendments to the Montreal Protocol, the parties to the protocol meet annually and make a series of decisions to enable the effective implementation of this important instrument. The exit of the HFC puts Australia in a strong position to meet its international obligations under the Montreal Protocol. At talks in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2016, representatives of Australia and most of the other 196 countries parties to the protocol reached an agreement in which 85% of the world`s CFCs will expire.