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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 10, OCTOBER 1997

REPORTS...
MONTREAL PROTOCOL

Item #d97oct28

The Right Choice at the Right Time, Sep. 1997 (Environ. Canada).

Concludes that the costs of implementing the Montreal Protocol ($235 billion) are less than the benefits it will yield ($459 billion). Examines the period between 1987, when the Protocol was signed, and 2050-60, the time when ozone levels in the upper atmosphere are expected to return to near normal. There will be fewer cases of skin cancer and cataracts, and the fisheries, agricultural, forestry and building sectors will also benefit from reduced exposure to UV radiation. Costs of implementation are lower than expected because of technological developments.

Item #d97oct29

Production and Consumption of Ozone-Depleting Substances 1986-1995: The Data Reporting System Under the Montreal Protocol, German Agency for Technical Cooperation, 110 pp., Sep. 1997, no charge (GTZ).

Reviews data through 1995 reported to the Ozone Secretariat. While production and consumption of CFCs and halons have declined rapidly in developed countries, they have increased significantly in developing countries. Consumption there appears to be far higher than assumed in the 1994 assessment, leading to the possibility that ozone layer recovery may be delayed beyond the expected date. (See Intl. Environ. Rptr., pp. 820-821, Sep. 3, 1997.)

Item #d97oct30

International Environment: Operations of the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (T-RCED-97-218), U.S. General Accounting Off., July 1997, no charge (GAO).

Reviews operations of the Fund from its establishment in 1991 through May 1997. It has allocated about $570 million for projects in over 100 developing countries, with the largest shares going to China (26%) and India (7%). Most moneys have provided investments for converting business operations from the use of ozone-depleting substances. The U.S. is the largest contributor (about 25%).

Item #d97oct31

CFC Smuggling in the European Union, Environ. Investigation Agency, Sep. 1997, no charge (EIA).

EIA, an independent environmental advocacy group, has demonstrated the seriousness of the problem by setting up a fictitious company that actually made deals to purchase illegal CFCs. The contraband CFCs mainly originate from Russia, which does not currently comply with the Montreal Protocol, and from China and India, which have until 2010 to halt production. The group recommends a ban on any sales of CFCs within the EU (recycled as well as virgin), and closure of exemptions and loopholes. In February, EIA also released Out in the Cold--The EU and the Need for Action Against CFC Smuggling, which blames bureaucratic confusion in the EU for much of the problem.