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 In
September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders
agreed to a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for
combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation
and discrimination against women. Placed at the heart of the global
agenda, they are now called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
By 2015, all 191 United Nations Member States have pledged to meet
these Goals:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for sustainability |
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Many of the actions associated with the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer, particularly the work done through
the Protocol's Multilateral
Fund, supports the implementation of Goal
7: Ensure environmental sustainability.
Goal 7 includes a target to "Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of
environmental resources", which encompasses actions to implement
the Montreal Protocol at the national, regional and international
levels.
A seminal event took place when the heads of State and government
from around the world met from 6 - 8 September 2000 on the eve of
the first General Assembly of the new millennium. At this "Millennium
Summit", the Secretary-General presented the report -- “We
the peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century”,
which iidentified the main challenges facing the international community
as it entered the twenty-first century and sketched out an action
plan for addressing them.
Thus, at the very outset when the MDGs were agreed, the achievements
of the Montreal Protocol and it their contribution to those Goals
were recognised:
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"Perhaps the single most successful
international environmental agreement to date has been the
Montreal Protocol, in which states accepted the need to phase
out the use of ozone-depleting substances"
We
The Peoples - The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century,
United Nations Department of Public Information (ISBN: 92-1-100844-1),
2000, Pg 56
"In the early 1970s evidence
had accumulated showing that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were
damaging the ozone layer in the stratosphere and increasing
the amount of ultraviolet B (UV-B)
radiation reaching Earth’s surface. Since the ozone layer
protects humans, animals and plants from the damaging effects
of UV-B radiation, the steady increase in CFCs and other ozone-depleting
substances constituted a major potential health hazard. But
it took a decade and a half of increasingly intensive effort
to achieve an agreement that would resolve the problem. The
1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer was a landmark international environmental agreement.
It has been remarkably successful. Production of the most
damaging ozone-depleting substances was eliminated, except
for a few critical uses, by 1996 in developed countries and
should be phased out by 2010 in developing countries. Without
the Protocol the levels of ozone-depleting substances would
have been five times higher than they are today, and surface
UV-B radiation levels would have doubled at mid-latitudes
in the northern hemisphere. On current estimates the CFC concentration
in the ozone layer is expected to
recover to pre-1980 levels by the year 2050. Prior to the
Protocol intergovernmental negotiations on their own failed
to mobilize sufficient support for the far-reaching measures
that were needed. But intensive lobbying by civil society
organizations, the presentation of overwhelming scientific
evidence—and the discovery of the huge ozone hole over
Antarctica—eventually created the consensus necessary
for the agreement
to be signed."
We
The Peoples - The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century,
United Nations Department of Public Information (ISBN: 92-1-100844-1),
2000, Pg 56
"Creating new incentives also
encourages the emergence of entirely new industries, devoted
to achieving greater energy efficiency and other environment-friendly
practices. The success of the Montreal Protocol, for instance,
has created a large market for ozone-safe refrigerators and
air conditioners. Nothing would be more foolish than neglecting
the enormously positive role the private sector can play in
promoting environmental change."
We
The Peoples - The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century,
United Nations Department of Public Information (ISBN: 92-1-100844-1),
2000, Pg 65
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In his 2005 report to the UN General Assembly
on the progress towards achieving the MDGs, the Secretary General
highlighted the implem|entation of the Montreal Protocol as a noteworthy
example:
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"We fundamentally depend on
natural systems and resources for  our
existence and development. Our efforts to defeat poverty and
pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental
degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.
At the country level, national strategies must include investments
in improved environmental management and make the structural
changes required for environmental sustainability …We
already have one encouraging example showing how global solutions
can be found. Thanks to the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the risk of harmful radiation
appears to be receding - a clear demonstration of how global
environmental problems can be managed when all countries make
determined efforts to implement internationally agreed frameworks".
In
Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights
for All - Report of the Secretary-General,
(A/59/2005), 21 March 2005
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The annual report that summarizes progress made on realising the
MDGs cites the Montreal Protocol as a "global success story"
that continues to make progress on meeting MDG 7:
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"A global effort to eliminate ozone-depleting substances
is working, though damage to the ozone layer will persist
for some time
Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) have been drastically
reduced – from almost 1.5 billion tons in 1989 to 89
million tons in 2005 – since threats to the protective
ozone layer were first recognized. The progress to date, 20
years after the Montreal Protocol was signed, demonstrates
what can be achieved when countries act together, and in a
concerted way, to resolve global environmental problems. Concentrations
of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have begun to
recede in the atmosphere. However, until they diminish significantly,
the ozone layer cannot begin to heal and ultraviolet radiation
will continue to harm human health, crop productivity and
wildlife.
Since the 1990s, every region has exceeded its commitments
under the Montreal Protocol. CFCs have already been phased
out in developed countries, and developing countries are on
track to do so by 2010. Similarly, every region has reduced
its consumption of other ozone-depleting substances. However,
countries have yet to completely eliminate their use, which
is in accordance with the timelines proposed under the Protocol.
Complicating the issue is the fact that significant amounts
of CFCs continue to be produced and traded illegally. Management
of ODS stockpiles is another concern, since the cost of destroying
them is high and environmentally unsound disposal methods
could spew disastrous amounts of ozone depleting substances
into the atmosphere. Maintaining momentum and funding for
the final phase-out and for monitoring the ozone layer is
crucial to a happy conclusion to this unprecedented international
success story."
The Millennium Development
Goals Report 2007,
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
June 2007, pp 24-25.
"Protection of the ozone layer is a global success story.
The 1987 Montreal Protocol catalysed global action to reduce
use of chemicals damaging to the ozone layer that shields
the earth from ultraviolet radiation. Since that agreement,
developed countries have virtually eliminated ozone-depleting
substances, and the developing world is not far behind. Without
these reductions, ozone depletion would have increased tenfold
by 2050 compared to current levels, resulting in millions
more cases of melanoma, other cancers and eye cataracts."
The Millennium Development
Goals Report 2006, United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, June 2006, Pg 17
"Action to halt further destruction of the ozone layer
shows that
progress is possible when the political will is there."
The Millennium Development
Goals Report 2005,
United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI/2390),
May 2005, Pg 30
"The ozone layer in the stratosphere absorbs ultraviolet
radiation, which has been associated with rising levels of
skin cancer and other harmful effects on living species. Through
unprecedented global cooperation, use of chlorofluorocarbons,
the most widespread ozone-depleting substances, has been reduced
to one tenth of 1990 levels. This remarkable accomplishment
shows that progress on the environment can be achieved with
strong political will and with consensus on the problem and
on how to solve it. Though damage to the ozone layer is already
evident, recovery is expected within the next 50 years."
The Millennium Development
Goals Report 2005,
United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI/2390),
May 2005, Pg 32
"The goal of ensuring environmental sustainability has
also seen both success and failure. The Montreal Protocol
on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has demonstrated
the effectiveness of concerted multilateral action, resulting
in a large decrease in global consumption of chlorofluorocarbons,
mostly in the developed countries (formerly the overwhelmingly
dominant users of these gases). The consumption of these gases
by developing countries has also declined by about half since
1995."
Implementation of the United
Nations Millennium Declaration - Report of the Secretary-General
(A/58/323), 2 September 2003, pg. 11
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At UNEP's 23rd Governing Council, UNEP also highlighted progress
on ozone layer protection as contributing towards MDG implementation:
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"Another indicator of success
for Goal 7 is the world's consumption of chlorofluorocarbons
…consumption in developed countries is now almost zero
after legally agreed phase-outs. Consumption in developing
countries stood at just over 150,000 tonnes in the mid 1990s
but is now down to less than 90,000 tonnes"
23rd Governing Council
To Focus on Environment and the MDGs, UNEP press release,
18 February 2005
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Through specific initiatives, the
OzonAction Branch also contributes to the implementation of one
or more Millennium Development Goals, for example:
The multi-partner, public-private
SolarChill
initiative contributes to:
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- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental
sustainability
- Goal
8: Develop a global partnerhip for sustainability
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The voluntary private sector initiative,
Refrigerants,
Naturally, supported by UNEP and Greenpeace contributes to:
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- Goal 7: Ensure environmental
sustainability
- Goal
8: Develop a global partnerhip for sustainability:
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