Some Regulations Established to Protect the Ozone Layer:

Ozone depletion became a big environmental issue which was carried into the international political scene with the United Nation Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization as major actors. In 1985, a conference called the convention for the protection of the ozone layer was convened in Vienna. The United States and several Scandinavian countries wanted to freeze the use of ozone depleters and ban its production. Of the attendees, only 27 countries including the United States, the Soviet union, Japan, and nations of the European community signed on. Larger developing countries such as India, China, and Brazil were afraid that this action would harm their economic growth.

     In May 1985, however, the British Antarctic Survey announced that a 40% loss in ozone was occurring every fall over Halley Bay, Antarctica, and had been since the 1960s. After this, it became urgent to do something to stop the disaster. Nations began signing on to the Vienna conference pact. In 1987, another large conference took place in Montreal, Canada. The participant countries came up with a commitment to reduce the production and emission of ozone depleters. In January 1989, the Montreal protocol announced that CFCs would be completely phased out by 1996. To enforce the protocol, a trade restriction was going to be imposed on nations who did not sign the protocol. By 1994, 134 nations signed on (see appendix B for a summary of all the key dates in the history of ozone-depleting chemicals).