When did we realize ozone depletion was an issue, and how did we fix it? By 1985, the globe had already seen advancements in the scientific understanding of ozone depletion and its impacts on human health and the environment. It was then that the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was created in response. This agreement is a framework convention that lays out principles agreed upon by many parties. It does not, however, require countries to take control actions to protect the ozone layer. This would come later in the form of the Montreal Protocol. 
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The year is 2065. Nearly two-thirds of Earth's ozone is gone -- not just over the poles, but everywhere. The infamous ozone hole over Antarctica, first discovered in the 1980s, is a year-round fixture, with a twin over the North Pole. The ultraviolet (UV) radiation falling on mid-latitude cities like Washington, D.C., is strong enough to cause sunburn in just five minutes. DNA-mutating UV radiation is up 650 percent, with likely harmful effects on plants, animals and human skin cancer rates. Such is the world we would have inherited if 193 nations had not agreed to ban ozone-depleting substances, according to atmospheric chemists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven.

This brochure brings together information on the issue of methyl bromide with respect to its application for quarantine (and pre-shipment) purposes which is an area of mutual concern to both multilateral agreements. It is hoped that the brochure will assist the Parties to both agreements in their endeavour to better understand and address those matters.

The Ozone Secretariat has prepared three briefing notes to support parts A, B and C of the 9 – 10 July 2018 Vienna workshop on energy efficiency opportunities in the context of phasing-down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This briefing note, intended for part C, discusses the promotion of efficient refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) equipment, looking in particular at ...

The Ozone Secretariat has prepared three briefing notes to support parts A, B and C of the 9–10 July 2018 Vienna workshop on energy efficiency opportunities in the context of phasing-down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This briefing note, intended for part A, provides an overview of energy and carbon related issues, looking in particular at ...

The Ozone Secretariat has prepared three briefing notes to support parts A, B and C of the 9–10 July 2018 Vienna workshop on energy efficiency opportunities in the context of phasing-down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This briefing note, intended for part B, provides an overview of the technical potential to improve the efficiency of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) equipment, looking in particular at ...

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Handbook for the Vienna Convention. This edition has been updated to include all relevant information from 1985 to date. 

The Handbook is structured as follows: section 1 sets out the full text of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985). Section 2 comprises the full text of all of the decisions of the Conferences of the Parties, up to and including its eleventh meeting in November 2017.