Montreal Agreement to Kigali agreement a brief story

  Montreal Agreement

• It is a global and successful agreement made in 1987 ( 16-sep-1987).
• Protect ozone layer from ozone depleting substances(ODS).
• The ozone layer filters out harmful ultra violate radiation, which is associated with an increased prevalence of skin cancer and cataracts, reduced agricultural productivity and disruption Marin ecosystem.
• This protocol taken strong domestic action to reduce ODS such as chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs) and halons 
• The full implementation of  the Montreal protocol is expected to help in the avoidance of over 280 million skin cancer incidents, almost 1.6 million deaths due to skin cancer, and millions of cases of cataracts.
• The ozone layer is expected to recover by the year 2050.
• Montreal protocol for ozone depletion is a protocol to Vienna convention.
• The Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol have each been ratified by 196 nations and the European Union.
• Every year on 19-Sept was celebrated as World Ozone day.

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (adopted in 1985, entry into force 1988) served as the framework for the Montreal Protocol, with the Convention’s objectives established to have Parties cooperate through shared research (Ozone Secretariat, 2016c). The Montreal Protocol is now more well-known as a document establishing concrete requirements for the phase out of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) for the protection of the ozone layer (Ozone Secretariat, 2016c).

The Montreal Protocol addresses the production and use of ODSs in a differential responsibility model, wherein developed countries and developing countries have agreed upon different deadlines for the phase out of ODSs. This model was developed to put higher pressure on developed nations, as they were the largest global users (the United States accounted for 50% of the global usage of CFCs), and to not compromise the progress being made by developing countries (Peloso, 2009-2010). The Montreal Protocol has 197 signatories as of 2016, and is the first universally ratified treaty in the United Nations history (US EPA, 2016). 

Amendments to the Montreal Protocol

Signatories to the Montreal Protocol continually discuss the evolution of the Protocol, to establish any necessary changes, additions, or eliminations that should be made to the Protocol based on the most current scientific data (Ozone Secretariat, 2016b). The following amendments were agreed upon by the second, fourth, ninth, eleventh, and twenty-eighth meetings of the Parties (Ozone Secretariat, 2016a; US EPA, 2017) . The amendments to the Montreal Protocol are noted by Hill (2016) as the key elements of the Montreal Protocol which resulted in noticeable reduction of ODS usage.

• London, 1990: Developed countries had until 2000 to phase out CFCs, halon, and carbon tetra chloride. Developing countries had an additional decade, until 2010.
• Copenhagen, 1992: Accelerated phase out of CFCs, halons, and carbon tetra chloride. Deadline advanced to 1996 for developed countries.
• Montreal, 1997: Phase out of hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and methyl bromide by 2005 (developed countries, 2015 for developing countries).
• Beijing, 1999: Heightened trade restrictions on HCFCs.
• Kigali, 2016: Addition of HFCs (hydro fluorocarbons) as a controlled substance within the Montreal Protocol. HFCs emerged as an ODS substitute, but are known damaging greenhouse gases.

 Kigali agreement ( HFC's Reduction)

• The 25th meeting of the Montreal protocol on the substances that depletes the ozone layer was held in Kigali, Rwanda.
• The HFC's were introduce in the year 1990 as an alternative to the chlorine based substances that are believed to deplete the ozone layer.
• The HFCs are eliminated the global warming could be reduced by 0.5 degrees by 2010, according done.
• The challenge is to maintain the global temperate below or at 2 degree with a growing rate of 8% per year globally.
• Contribute to realization of sustainable development goals.
• This protocol has effects on the human health as well.
• Kigali agreement 15 Oct 2016 is extension / continuous to Montreal agreement.