The General Trust Fund for Financing Activities on Research and Systematic Observations relevant to the Vienna Convention

In Decision VI/2 of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was requested, in consultation with World Meteorological Organization (WMO), to establish an extrabudgetary fund for receiving voluntary contributions from the Parties and international organizations for the purpose of funding certain research and observation activities related to the Vienna Convention in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. 

The General Trust Fund was established in February 2003 primarily for the purpose of providing complementary support for the continued maintenance and calibration of the existing WMO Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) ground-based stations for monitoring column ozone, ozone profiles and ultra-violet radiation in the developing countries and in the countries with economies in transition (CEITs), to address balanced global coverage. 

In response to identified gaps in the global monitoring of controlled substances, the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and Thirty-Sixth Meeting of Parties respectively adopted Decision XIII/2 and Decision XXXVI/1, which included the atmospheric monitoring of controlled substances as a purpose of the General Trust Fund.