The Best Climate Agreement Was the Treaty to Protect the Ozone Layer
Lasting Lessons Include the Benefits of Flexibility and a Culture of Cooperation
The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is justifiably celebrated as the basis for the near universal adoption of measures to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. While not emphasized at the time, the chemicals eliminated were also potent greenhouse gases and would have contributed significantly to climate change. A treaty initially signed by a limited number of developed countries with the aim of a 50 percent reduction in a small set of chemicals was repeatedly amended. The list of chemicals restricted was expanded and the timetable for reductions accelerated. Developed countries also agreed to provide financial and technical assistance to enable participation by developing countries. In 2003, then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called it “perhaps the single most successful international environmental agreement to date.” Yet in the almost 20 years since, the Protocol has proven to be far more beneficial than originally predicted and has continued to evolve in ways that have made it dramatically more successful — with the potential to offer even greater benefits in the years to come.
