Joint Meeting of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and to the Montreal Protocol
The Vienna Convention, created in response to growing scientific understanding of ozone depletion and its impacts on human health and the environment, took effect in 1988 and reached universal ratification in 2009. It laid out the principles of ozone protection, but did not require countries to take control actions – that would come later in the Montreal Protocol, which sets out practical, actionable tasks to phase out chemicals that deplete the ozone.
Progress is still being made with both agreements. Parties to the Vienna Convention meet every once in three years to make decisions on issues such as Research and Systematic observations. Meanwhile, parties to the Montreal Protocol meet annually to make decisions aimed at ensuring the successful implementation of the agreement – and more. In its most recent amendment, the Kigali Amendment, it called for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are powerful greenhouse gases used to replace ozone-depleting substances that were eliminated by the original Protocol.
To read the official reports and decisions of past meetings, please click here.
[This description was taken from sdg.iisd.org.]