THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL, 1987 term paper

Negotiations on the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer were completed on 16 September 1987. This path-breaking agreement is the first major international effort to deal with environmental issues that go beyond national boundaries. As such, it is a model for agreements reached in the 1990s and for future agreements.

The main ozone-depleting substances are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), invented in the 1920s and used for propellants in aerosol cans, as solvents, and as coolants. Until the 1970s, CFCs were regarded as highly useful and not harmful. In 1974 Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland, chemists at the University of California at Irvine, published an article on the possibility that CFCs might cause damage to the ozone layer.

Although the use of CFCs for aerosol sprays was banned in a number of countries at the end of the 1970s, it took the 1985 report by British scientists of a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica to move negotiations ahead. The result was the Montreal Protocol, which called for industrial countries to cut production and use of CFCs in half by 1998. The protocol was all the more remarkable in that there were not yet enough scientific data to prove extensive damage to the ozone layer or even that CFCs were the major cause. The protocol was strengthened in meetings in London in 1990, in Copenhagen in 1992, and in Vienna in 1995. Dates for phasing out the production of CFCs and several other chemicals were advanced from the original schedule. The last round of revisions took place in 1997. The various changes in the Montreal Protocol resulted from periodic reviews by panels of experts. In addition to the outstanding example of cooperation between scientists and public policy makers, industry, after initial resistance, joined in the effort to protect the ozone layer. While industry worked to find substitutes for the banned CFCs, it also explored completely different ways of accomplishing tasks that CFCs had been used for. For example, instead of expensive solvents made from CFCs to clean circuit boards, some companies used lemon juice, a far cheaper substitute. The Montreal Protocol has also been successful in dealing with questions of equity in relations between the North and the South. Developing countries were granted a ten-year grace period for phasing out CFCs and other chemicals. Also, a fund was established to help them make the transition. To date, the Montreal Protocol has been an extraordinarily successful model for international efforts to protect the environment. It has also indicated the importance of environmental issues for questions of international security.
Suggestions for Term Papers
1. Investigate the development of uses for CFCs in the 1950s and 1960s. Why were they regarded as “wonder chemicals”?
2. Determine how much damage has been done to the ozone layer and how long scientists now estimate it will take to recover.
3. Industry and, to some extent, the general public have been slow to accept the idea of global warming. Yet both groups fairly quickly accepted the idea that the production of CFCs was damaging the ozone layer. Analyze the responses to these two ideas and write a paper accounting for the differences.
4. In 1995 Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Paul Crutzen of Germany’s Max Planck Institute also received the prize for work he had done that paved the way for Molina and Rowland). Check newspapers and magazines to see what kind of coverage they received. Did journalists properly recognize the importance of their accomplishment?
5. One important principle used in the negotiations at Montreal is called the “precautionary principle” (the idea that the lack of scientific certainty is no reason to delay action if delay may result in serious or irreversible damage). Read the article on this principle cited in the sources and then apply this principle to the issue of global warming.
6. Do a case study of an industry changing the way a product is designed or made to accommodate the ban on CFCs.

Research Suggestions

In addition to the boldfaced items, look under the entry for “The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio” (#94). Search under ozone layer, Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985), United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, Global Environment Facility (GEF).

SUGGESTED SOURCES

Primary Sources

“Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.” In Lakshman D. Guruswamy, Geoffrey W.R. Palmer, and Burns H. Weston, eds., International Environmental Law and World Order, Supplement of Basic Documents. St. Paul: West Publishing 1994.

Secondary Sources

Cameron, James, and Juli Abouchar. “The Status of the Precautionary Principle in International Law.” In David Freestone and Ellen Hey, eds., The Precautionary Principle and International Law: The Challenge of Implementation. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1996. Discussion of a basic principle now used in dealing with environmental issues.

Cook, Elizabeth. Ozone Protection in the United States: Elements of Success. Washington, D.C.: WRI, 1996. A recent review of U.S. efforts to comply with the Montreal Protocol.

French, Hilary F. “Learning from the Ozone Experience.” In Lester R. Brown et al., State of the World 1997. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. An excellent review of the diplomatic and technical aspects of the Montreal Protocol and subsequent revisions.

Goodman, Allan E. The Negotiations Leading to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Pew Case Studies in International Affairs. Washington, D.C.: The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 1992. An overview that provides a good basis for discussion of the negotiation process.

Lemonick, Michael D. “When Politics Twists Science.” Audubon 98 (January/February 1996): 110. Congressional efforts to end American support for the Montreal Protocol despite the scientific consensus and long-standing cooperation from industry.

Makhijani, Arjun, and Kevin Gurney. Mending the Ozone Hole: Science, Technology, and Policy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996. An excellent source for all dimensions of the issue.

Nemecek, Sasha. “Rescuing the Ozone Layer.” Scientific American 277 (November 1997). A fascinating profile of Mario Molina, one of the first scientists to note the possibility of damage to the ozone layer.

Parson, Edward A. “Protecting the Ozone Layer.” In Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane, and Mac A. Levy, eds., Institutions for the Earth. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994. An excellent study of the efforts to protect the ozone layer.

Rowlands, Ian H. The Politics of Global Atmospheric Change. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 1995. A very useful discussion that approaches the ozone layer problem from various angles: science, business interests, equity questions, and catalysts for action.

World Wide Web

“The Ozone Secretariat [United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP].” http://www.unep.org/ozone. The Montreal Protocol as adjusted through 1999 and many other interesting features and useful links.



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