ABSTRACT

In 1979 a first World Climate Conference organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) acknowledged that human activity could lead to ‘significant extended regional and even global changes of climate’. By 1985 research into emissions and likely impacts was presented at a joint conference in Villach, Austria, on the ‘Assessment of the Role of Carbon Dioxide and of Other Greenhouse Gases in Climate Variations and Associated Impacts’ (WMO, 1986). Also in 1985, a paper in Nature (Farman et al., 1985) alerted policymakers to a different but related problem, the existence of an ozone hole in Antarctica, with potential adverse impacts for human health and the envir on ment. Growing international concern and understanding of what the implications of these changes and impacts might mean led to the drafting of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987). This Protocol was designed to control the emission to atmosphere of an array of ozone-depleting substances (including halogenated hydrocarbons or chlorofluorcarbons – CFCs) which were seen as causing the opening up of the Antarctic ozone hole and, subsequently, another over the Arctic Ocean. The process of negotiation and signing of the Montreal Protocol (1987-90 from opening for signature to entering into force) was an important example for subsequent global policy development concerned with protection of the atmosphere (Oberthür and Ott, 1999). Ozone-depleting substances are also greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change.