“PERHAPS the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal protocol,” declared Kofi Annan, then head of the United Nations, back in 2003. Agreed 16 years earlier, the mechanism sought to limit damage to the stratospheric ozone layer that protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The protocol phased out substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—coolants in devices ranging from air conditioners to refrigerators—which deplete the ozone. They also contribute to global warming. To date, the agreement has averted the equivalent of more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. One of its most important architects, Mostafa Tolba, an Egyptian scientist, died on March 28th, aged 93.
Educated in Cairo and London, Dr Tolba helped found the institutions of modern climate diplomacy. In 1972 he led his country’s delegation to the Stockholm conference from which the United Nations Environment Programme emerged. After a short stint as its deputy executive director, he took full charge from 1975 until 1992. The Vienna...Continue reading
Source: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1RMQyus
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