By Xiaoyi Wang

Picture: Globe License: Public Domain

In 2017, because of the changes in administration, environmental enforcement policies around the world have changed.

United States of America

In the United States, the Trump Administration has brought uncertainty to the US enforcement picture. All enforcement constituencies (state agencies and environmental groups) are still assessing what roles and strategies to take as directional shifts at the federal level will likely influence responses by states and NGOs. The shift of administration led to EPA enforcement moving back to the "traditional" environmental programs – air, water, waste.

European Union

The European Commission has conducted a broad EU Environmental implementation review (EIR). The EU also adopted new rules (Dec. 2016) for member states to reduce air pollution by primary particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organic components. In addition, the EU has set out environmental plans and proposed initiatives to achieve their 2020 goals.

China

China has implanted tougher environmental policies in 2017, a great expansion under President Xi’s “War on Pollution” initiative. In 2017, China also shut 27 coal mines in Shanxi and shutdown responsible corporate actors around China to control air pollution.

The Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. President Trump announced in June that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear that fighting climate change is, at best, a low priority.  Many are unsure whether the Paris Agreement framework will still work if the United States indeed withdraws from the agreement. In accordance with Article 28 of the Paris Agreement, the earliest possible effective withdrawal date by the United States cannot be before November 4, 2020, four years after the Agreement came into effect in the United States and one day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol)

The Montreal Protocol celebrated its thirty years on September 16, 2017. After thirty years of enforcement, the treaty has been ratified or accepted by all 197 UN member states. As one of the most successful and effective environmental treaties ever negotiated and implemented, the Montreal Protocol has helped reduce the depletion of the ozone layer by about 20 percent from 2005 to 2016.

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March 08, 2018

By Xiaoyi Wang

Image: Porapak Apichodilok License: Creative Common Zero

Background

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol) celebrated its thirty years on September 16, 2017. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out 99 percent of nearly 100 ozone-depleting substances (ODS), including CFCs, HCFCs and halon. As one of the most successful and effective environmental treaties ever negotiated and implemented, the Montreal Protocol has helped reduce the depletion of the ozone layer by about 20 percent from 2005 to 2016. The shrinking of the ozone hole will bring numerous benefits to people’s health (reducing the chance of having skin cancers and eye disorders) and agriculture. It will also help slowdown global climate change and to prevent extreme weather events (hurricanes, floods and droughts). The Montreal Protocol was a “milestone for all people and our planet,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The treaty has been ratified or accepted by all 197 UN member states. “Thirty years ago the world proved it can come together and tackle a global problem with global resolve,” said Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The ozone layer is expected to return to 1980 levels between 2045 and 2060 as long as countries continue to meet their obligations.

The Success of the Montreal Protocol

There are a number of multinational treaties dealing with environment issues. Among them, the Montreal Protocol has achieved a great deal of success in atmosphere protection.  The lackluster compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, which was set in place to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, as the prominent counter-example. The success of the Montreal Protocol does not come from nowhere.

The Role of the United States

The United States government played an exceedingly aggressive role in producing the Montreal Protocol, which contributes to its success. By the 1980s, the industry within the United States achieved significant progress in producing safe substitutes for CFCs. Not only was the financial obstacle progressively removed, the ongoing disagreement within the Reagan Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was resolved after a careful cost-benefit analysis from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, which suggested that the costs of controls would be far lower than anticipated, and the benefits far higher. Considering the benefits to mankind and the cost of reducing CFCs when its substitute was readily available, even unilateral action was well-justified for the United States. “But if the world joined the Montreal Protocol, the benefits for the United States would be nearly tripled, because it would prevent 245 million cancers by 2165 including more than five million cancer deaths,” stated by Scott Barrett in Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making.

Global Participation

To assist developing countries to meet their commitments, the Multilateral Fund (Fund) was established in 1991. To date, the Fund has approved activities including industrial conversion, technical assistance, training and capacity building worth over $3.6 billion. With the financial assistance from the Fund, developing countries largely comply with the Montreal Protocol. Currently, 147 of the 197 parties to the Montreal Protocol meet its criteria.

The other element that encouraged countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol was its trade provisions. The trade provision limits the signatories to trade only with other signatories on CFCs and other ODS. Once the main producing countries signed up to the treaty, it was only a matter of time before all countries joined in the system. 

After over thirty years in picture, the Montreal Protocol still benefits the mankind. The success of the Montreal Protocol provides a workable system when environment protection requires global cooperation. 

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January 24, 2018