UNEP DTIE OzonAction Branch: Ozone Blog

horseride Human rights violation and global environmental challenge

By Rajendra Shende, rmshende@unep.fr
1July 2008

The other day I was reading a document entitled "National Security and threat of climate change". I thought that the title of the document alone would stir national governments and make them think intensively on actions how to address climate change. Even those who doubted the certainty of science, and those who -in the words of Sir Nicolas Stern - are "absurd, reckless, irresponsible and ethically indefensible" would think of doing something after reading it as it deals with issues related to national security.

Security and Safety are the words that make people act. I recall some one saying that those who do not want to throw coins at beggars because they feel that beggars MUST work would start throwing coins if you convince them that beggars and poverty are severe threats to their security.

National Security is such an important issue now that countrie take unilateral action if they find that there is threat to their national security.

We all know that climate change is a 'global threat'. But all global threats appear to be a distant thunder. As long as 'it is not in my backyard ' the chances of any action against the threat is a far-flung possibility. Very few realize that life threatening lava flowing down from a volcano in the distance could one day sweep not only 'my backyard' , but even the microscopic life, leave alone human beings. The same goes with retreating glaciers. It appears so far away, that the consequences of such a glacial retreat like drying up of the rivers Ganges, Mekong, Indus, Yangtze , Brahmaputra - all originating from Himalayan glaciers - appear to many as a phenomenon that belongs to another era in the distant future and not at all belonging to our times.

Even those Governments that are placid and complacent are likely to act swiftly when there is threat to the national security arising out of enemy attack or terrorism.

A distant global threat suddenly appears at the door step when it is termed national security. Hence, I appreciated the way the impacts of the climate change are shown as something of a threat to the national security. It is the right way to create awareness among governments to inspire actions.

Recently I even heard something more serious. A document that I came across concluded that climate change is violating human rights.

On the radio I listened to the interview of an Eskimo who was describing how his family livelihood and dignity is being snatched away from them by the melting of snow due to global warming. He can no longer slide his ice sledge to go hunting, and the ice holes which he used to hunt for seals are disappearing. Even his home built with ice blocks may no longer stand. The reindeers will disappear, and he may not be able to stitch the clothes using the skin of the reindeers. The basic necessities of food, shelter and clothes are threatened due to global warming and he and his family cannot live with dignity. He went on to say that this is not future tense description. He is experiencing it now, at present.

So, he wants the Human Rights Commission to intervene so that his basic human rights are protected. He also said that he was not responsible for global warming, but he is getting affected by it more and more and upfront. It has been recognized by now that those who are not responsible for global warming i.e. the poor countries would suffer most from the impacts as they would not have ability and means to counter and to absorb the them.

Impacts of Ozone Layer Depletion could also have threatened national security and violated human rights, had the world not acted in time. Ozone layer depletion threatens the food security (it reduces the plant growth and crop productivity), human health (it reduces the immune system and causes cancer and cataracts) and the very existence of human beings would have been under severe threat, again starting with Eskimos who live in the polar region.

We have lessons to learn in addressing the national security and human rights in relation with global environmental issues. We may lose the battle but we should not lose the lessons however small they may be.

la Grande Arche Paris

Axis of History

By Rajendra Shende, rmshende@unep.fr
16 April 2008

The "Axis of History" is well known in Paris. It is the famous straight line that joins the historic monuments: the pyramid of the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arche.

The other day I went to the roof of the Grande Arche (at the height of 110 meters) to see the exhibition 'History of Information Technology'. It chronicled the events in the development of the computers and internet since 1958. It was the 50th Anniversary of the starting point of the digital revolution that swept over the whole planet and changed the way we live.

The information in the exhibition was startling. Anywhere between 60 - 100 billion emails are sent daily as per the latest estimates as of March 2008. And there are 1.3 billion people globally who surf the internet, the majority of the surfers being in Asia. "Networks" of computers is the founding principle of this revolution. Sharing files and "packet switching" are the key mechanisms for the speedy and effective communications.

Interestingly, the start of such communication was the result of intense competition and the race in space technology between the United States and Russia. In 1958, the United States received a major surprise when Russia launched Sputnik. ARPAnet (Advance Research Project Agreement Network) was initiated by USA in 1958, in order to network with institutes and universities to share and coordinate research results in the space technology and other military research.

ARPAnet contributed immensely in putting man on the Moon within ten years time. The cost of ARPAnet was just few millions of dollars and the Apollo mission to the moon costed some billions of dollars. That was the power and cost effectiveness of networks! Cost effectiveness and speed is the value proposition in networking.

When I joined UNEP in Paris as Coordinator of OzonAction, we decided to use this "value proposition of networks" to help eliminate the production and consumption of the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). Mrs. Ingrid Kokeritz, a renowned Swedish expert on the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, was very passionate about the mechanism of sharing of the experiences among the government officers in charge of the implementation of the Protocol. With Ingrid's vision and energy, UNEP OzonAction launched ODSONet (ODS Officers' Network) to connect 12 countries in South East Asia Pacific region. The concept was as simple as ARPAnet, but applied to the implementation of a multilateral environmental agreement: sharing experience and exchanging real life experiences to accelerate the implementation of the Montreal Protocol was the value proposition.

Within 8 years, the Multilateral Fund expanded these networks and now they connect 145 developing countries. UNEP OzonAction now operates 10 regional and sub-regional networks that have been recognised (though both formal evaluations and through testimonies of Network members) as having contributed immensely to the faster phase out of ozone depleting chemicals. Costing a few million dollars, just about 3 % of the total US $ 2.5 billion spent in implementing the Montreal Protocol in developing countries to date, these networks have become inseparable part of the Montreal Protocol. The ODSONets changed the way the Governments translate the Protocol into the action.

ARPAnet gave birth to a world-changing spin-off -- the Internet - the network of networks! Trade was banned on the Internet till 1992. But once it was liberalized, the Internet flourished. There are today about 165 million websites, half of which are related to business. I was amazed to read the information in the exhibition.

ODSOnet gave birth to the network of focal points in other Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Who knows? -- Perhaps there will be a network of networks for MEAs in the near future -it may revolutionalize the way we work towards the sustainable development!

Ozone Hole, Bore Hole

All that is empty is not a 'hole'!

By Rajendra Shende, rmshende@unep.fr
23 March 2008, World Meteorological Day

One of the key success factors of the Montreal Protocol is the role played by media. When first put forward by scientists, the problem of ozone layer depletion was in reality far away, seemingly much detached from everyday life on Earth. Physically it was more than 20 kilometres up in the sky. Moreover, the cause and effects of ozone layer depletion were removed from one another. After listening to the hypotheses put forward by esteemed scientists Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, surely the common man must have said, "there are so many real problems for us to solve, who has the time and mind to hear this stratospherically distant thunder?"

This remote issue was literally brought down to earth and turned into an everyday issue by journalists. They metamorphosed this esoteric atmospheric calamity into an iconic term the "Ozone Hole" which came to be associated with the famous NASA satellite image of ozone depletion over Antarctica. The journalists' work made this hitherto isolated problem appear to be something of a leaking roof over all of our heads. What could be more insecure for a family than to have the safety and comfort of their home imperilled because of a hole in their roof? One cannot go about business as usual and sleep soundly in a house with a leak, particularly when there is evidence that it is going to widen further unless action is taken. The first thing the house dwellers would do is to get a ladder, climb up to the roof and patch up the hole. What else? The Montreal Protocol was that very ladder picked up by the world community whose metaphoric roof was leaking.

On a long haul flight to Malaysia last week, I was reading an article in a magazine about climate change. I finished reading and looked out of the plane window into the distant blue sky. I realised that there is not always a "dangerous" connotation to the word "hole". While "ozone hole" symbolised global environmental problem, "holes" drilled in the Earth could be the answer to another global environmental catastrophe facing humanity today -climate change.

When drilling into the earth, the temperature rises rapidly every kilometre you descend. If you could reach down to 6 kilometres (some of the South African gold mines have already reached up to 4 kilometres below the Earth's surface) the temperature there would be 150 degree centigrade. Now imagine that we pour water from one hole till this point, we could expect steam oozing up from another parallel and connected hole drilled nearby. And that steam could be used for turbines to generate electricity. No need to burn fossil fuel to generate steam! Geothermal energy has potential to help solve the climate change problem, if we had the technology to drill such holes, and they could be located near major population centres. Scientists are already engaged in drilling such experimental bores. These are examples of "holes" with a positive connotation that could help answer our global environmental problems.

Dear journalists, thanks for the your ingenuity for the coining the term "ozone hole". But how about another metaphor, this time to inspire global community to take action against the climate change? How about: "One hole represents a problem but two holes could solve the problem" or "Holistic approach down into core of the earth to address the climate change"

Members of the media, we need your repeat performance to catalyse action on climate change - immediately!

20th Anniversary of MP... I mean Mobile Phones!

Just 9 days before the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol in the city of Montreal, there was yet another landmark event that took place to celebrate one more 20th anniversary of the Protocol which changed the way the world works.

!That Protocol, i.e. Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 7th September 1987 on digital cellular mobile phone systems in Europe that later sparked a technology revolution that even today continues unabated.

Though a cell phone was first made by Dr Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1974 it took 13 years to set up and agree on cooperation mechanism under a regional agreement that was signed in 1987 by 13 countries and later came to be known as Global System of Mobile Communication- GSM.

Though the ozone depletion was first hypothized by Molina-Rowland in 1974, at the University of California, it took 13 years to set up and agree on a cooperation mechanism under the global agreement that was signed in 1987 by 24 countries and later came to be known as the Montreal Protocol-MP-on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer.

The agreement on GSM in 1987 is now widely regarded as the foundation of today's global mobile phone industry and is one of the greatest technological achievements of our days, says Rob Conway, CEO of GSM Association. The CEOs of the industrial world and the heads of the governments have nothing different to say about the Montreal Protocol, the most successful multilateral environmental agreement in the world so far.

There are 2.5 billion users of mobile telephones today, 7 trillion minutes of talking time and 2.5 trillion SMS messages are sent every year over GSM networks.

There are 6 billion people whose governments are Party to the Montreal Protocol and are engaged in implementation of the Montreal Protocol. It has already eliminated nearly 1.6 trillion grams of CFCs, which is equivalent of nearly 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. In both cases, GSM and MP, the early vision of the industry and the governments created an international cooperation on an unprecedented scale. It resulted into technological evolutions benefiting the lives of people over the last twenty years. Mobile phones have been able to reduce the digital divide. The Montreal Protocol has succeeded in bridging the environmental divide and the developmental aspirations between developed and developing countries.

I recall the international negotiations to strengthen the Montreal Protocol. In the Gigiri complex of UNEP in Nairobi, in 1989, the Scientific Assessment Panel of WMO and UNEP was presenting their assessment. I was part of the Government of India attempting to understand the impact of the participation of the developing countries in meeting the Protocol's target. Dr Bob Watson, Chair of the Scientific Assessment Panel, was presenting the famous bell-size curves on chlorine loading in the stratosphere. I, through the Indian Government negotiator, asked Dr Watson how the bell-size curve would look like and to what extent the ozone layer recovery would be delayed if developing countries participated in the Montreal Protocol some years after the developed countries started implementing it. For example: what would be the impact on chlorine loading and the recovery of ozone layer if the time lag was 10 years, 15 years, 20 years and -interesting option- if developing countries were totally exempted from the Montreal Protocol. In the evening of that same day, Dr Watson spoke to his team in NOAA and NASA in USA who did the computer modelling and the following morning he presented to the negotiators in Nairobi how the bell-curve would change and how the ozone layer recovery would get affected. In fact, he presented to us through a visual impact if the developing countries decided on late participation or non-participation.

During the negotiations on the agreement on mobile phones-GSM-, no one asked such questions on the differentiation of the developed and developing country participation. Probably the technological potential of mobile phones was overwhelming and the idea swept the minds of the negotiators.

No power in the world, not even the powerful nuclear missile, can stop an idea whose time has come!

The story of Bali is part of Ramayana, an Indian epic written thousands of years ago. Briefly it goes like this: Rama - during his exile in the forest - comes across the kingdom of monkeys. The twin monkey brothers, Bali and Sugreeva, had serious disputes and engaged in war - a direct duel. Both were extremely powerful and it was believed that both would die in the duel if a third party does not intervene. Rama was to watch the duel through a hiding place and help his friend Sugreeva by aiming at Bali with an arrow. From his hiding place Rama could not target Bali as both looked identical and Rama did not want to hit the wrong target.

In the city of Bali, Indonesia, many of the folk stories from Ramayana are inherited and cherished. The countries succeeded in carrying out what looked like 'duel' negotiations. Both sides were equally powerful. The only option was to declare both winners or both losers. What was the outcome on COP meeting on climate change in Bali ?

The public watched the duel from a distance , but definitely not from a hiding place. This time the public was prominently placed and well informed - thanks to the efforts of IPCC, Al Gore and the media. The negotiators were, therefore, under pressure and the final outcome was: a new road map! They have now a sense of direction, but no definite destination. They seem to have a desire to find a 'way' but no 'will' to decide who would be their co-travelers when they set out to go on a 'march' from the start-line. I feel that what was forgotten by the negotiators was the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer which has addressed this very dilemma. I would call the Montreal Protocol, a Protocol on "approaches that prevent planetary crises".

When there is a planetary crisis there is only one direction: run more rapidly away from the crisis. When tsunamis arise we have to run away from the water, when volcanoes erupt, we have to run away from them. When there is a 'shower of meteors' we have to collectively protect each other by whatever means we have. If the planetary crisis is due to greenhouse gases emissions, the only direction is to reduce emissions.

The Montreal Protocol has certainly shown the roadmap to avoid global disaster. That roadmap indicated: Follow the precautionary approach and start early action, even if science is uncertain. Accept common but differentiated responsibility so that stronger economies help fragile ones.

In Ramayana the Bali story goes further. Rama could not target the enemy. But then there was the next round of the duel. This time Rama made sure that his friend wore a distinct mark so that he could target the enemy.

Are we there yet? I am sure many of you remember this childhood question posed to your father or mother. Remember? You were tired walking with them hanging on to their hand, or bag or purse and wondering how long this walk is going to take before you reach home-sweet-home.

Later, while studying at the university, I saw a very thoughtful cartoon in 'Punch' magazine. The cartoon showed a vast desert scorching sun and a couple of Mongolian nomads walking along with camels loaded with "nomadic essentials". A small child on camel, asks his walking mother, "Are we there yet?" and his mother replies, "No, my child, we are all nomads!" That cartoon made a great impact on my mind at that time. 'Bhagvatgeeta", an epic written in Sanskrit some 5,000 years ago considered to be an anchor of Hindu philosophy states that : 'keep working without expecting the fruits of your work' . Its similarity with nomadic philosophy i.e. 'keep walking, do not expect to reach your destination!' is evident. We all talk about much publicized phenomenon of globalization, but the philosophies were globalised even at that time, I thought.

On 17 October 2007, exactly one month after the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Montreal Protocol, I read an update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It says, "The 2007 Antarctic Ozone hole is relatively small both in terms of the ozone hole area and in the amount of destroyed ozone. For the last 10 years, only during 2002 and 2004 the ozone holes were smaller than the 2007 ozone hole." A 'feel-good' sense prevails my thoughts, till I read the next sentence of the bulletin, "It should be pointed out that this is not a sign of ozone recovery." Well, I ask Mother Earth, "Are we NOT there yet?"

Interestingly the reason given by WMO for such an observation is related to global warming! It says that the chlorine loading (represented by the ozone depleting gases) in the stratosphere is depleting 1% per year since the year 2000 due to measures under the Montreal Protocol. But there is enough chlorine there for ozone holes to appear for another 10 - 20 years.

Due to global warming the stratospheric temperatures will be lowered as more heat is trapped in the earth's atmosphere. Such lowering of temperatures shall further increase the severity of the ozone depletion due to forecasts of polar stratospheric clouds. The clouds consist of microscopic ice particles which act as catalyst and provide the surface needed to accelerate the chemical reaction leading to breaking of the ozone molecule. Mr Gerhard Ertl won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces that include the accelerated reactions due to polar stratospheric clouds. Then WHY the smaller ozone hole in 2007? Well, the WMO bulletin continues, "There will always be inter-annual variability in the meteorological conditions, so we can experience less severe ozone holes."

I recall my mother telling me, "Ok, my child, I know you are tired. Look, see that bus coming there. We will take that bus, no more walking for you." I indeed saw a bus coming and I thought the walk was over. Unfortunately, the bus was full; it stopped momentarily, nobody got down and it went on. I could see the bus disappearing in a cloud -not polar stratospheric-but of rural road dust. Mother looked at me and said, "Let's go, keep walking!"

The clinking of wine glasses followed by 'cheers' were as omnipresent in Montreal during the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol as the speeches extolled the virtues and lessons learnt from this global treaty.

As I returned to my hotel after one of the many receptions I decided to take a walk to the 'Parc de Prince' one of my favorite places in Montreal. Wine makes people talk, it makes me walk! The Parc de Prince is at the bottom of 'Mont Real' the historic landmark hill in Montreal. I had been to Montreal many times before and was immediately 'time-machined' into nostalgia. This nostalgia was about wine, grapes and the process of fermentation that I learnt during my years of chemical engineering!

I prefer the science of wine making more than wine itself. Fermentation is a natural process during which sugar is transformed into alcohol by using energy from nature with natural enzymes acting as catalysts. A perfect example of sustainable or 'green' chemistry. Is there any other chemical process that has done so much for the well-being of humankind? For example, the manufacture of penicillin is a classical fermentation process which changed the health of people.

While I was walking past the maple trees, I recalled how grapes are fermenting with their seeds. It produces polyphenol which have the properties of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants act against aging. Due to the presence of such substances grape seeds and wines were one of the first medicines in ancient times.

Why is it that grapes or tomatoes do not change their shiny skins or tastes even when the weather is changing? Grapes and tomatoes absorb sunshine all the time as they are growing. Grapes are grown in mid to higher attitudes where Ozone Layer Depletion and UV rays are significant. So how is it that the skins of grapes do not get affected by 'cancerous' diseases? Scientists have proven that plants are 'living beings' just like humans. One would expect that the skin of grapes or tomatoes would get affected by UV rays just as the human skin does.

Back in Paris I read about the "Laboratoire Oenobiol" founded by Madame Marie Bejot. She said that "skin is the visiting card of health, be it that of human beings or of grapes or tomatoes". Her philosophy impressed me stating that what we eat decides the quality of our skin. She then manufactured and promoted nutrition capsules rich in polyphenol and Omega-3 which supplement our diet. She points out that grapes are able to keep their skin so shiny and are able to combat UV rays not because they put on sun screen lotion but because the nutrient intake of grapes and their synthesis produce polyphenols and Omega-3. These cartenoids act as a final filter against UV rays thus keeping the skin shiny and free of abnormal growth. So why cannot human beings also increase their intake in such a way that polyphenols are sufficiently produced to counter UV rays?

Our body is capable of producing such substances according to what we eat. Unfortunately, we live to eat whereas plants eat to live.

The 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol listed a number of lessons for climate change. This is one more example, a lesson from Mother Nature. It is about nature adapting to global environmental problems. At least, the Ozone Layer Depletion we have known is likely to be over. In the case of Climate Change there is depletion of actions. Surely, plants have started their actions against changing climate. When do we start?

4-day traffic trial in the city of Beijing was probably the biggest ever trial to ensure clean air during the next year's 2008 Olympics. On one of those days, I arrived in Beijing; cars with number plates ending with odd numbers were banned from the roads. I could reach my hotel from the airport in no time, as nearly 50 % of Beijing's 3 million cars were off the roads. The taxi driver looked happy, as there were no traffic jams. Even the airport expressway looked more beautiful with thick trees on both sides, which about a decade ago looked so thin and sparse. The Chinese government has taken air pollution seriously, especially in view of the 29th Summer Olympics that will take place exactly one year from now.

I was in Beijing to give an opening presentation at the International Congress of Refrigeration. But I took the opportunity to meet with the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee at its multi-storied headquarters. This was my third visit to the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), since UNEP signed an agreement with the Committee to assist them in making the games 'Green Games'. I met with the head of Construction and Environment Department which has just issued a report called "Beijing 2008: Environment Protection, Innovation and Improvement".

I recalled OzonAction's first conference call with BOCOG who visited Nairobi in 2004 and later a meeting in Paris where we succeeded in convincing BOCOG that "Ozone layer protection friendly Olympics" - as BOCOG calls it now - should be part of the overall theme of 'Green Olympics'. At that time we debated that avoiding CFCs could probably be not that difficult, because China would be accelerating its phase-out of CFCs by more than two years, i.e. by 2008. However, phasing out of HCFCs which are scheduled for 2040, e.g. 32 years after the Olympics, would be a formidable challenge. Mr Yu Xiaoxuan, Deputy Head, was enthusiastic. He decided to take the challenge head on. We even discussed that BOCOG could consider buying products for catering that will be free of methyl bromide treatment during the soil fumigation.

Both OzonAction & BOCOG were determined to use this global event as a key awareness raising tool for the Ozone Layer Protection. BOCOG was enthusiastic to demonstrate that China is not just the most populated country 'fully geared for the games', but it is also the "largest developing country which will become an example of environmental heritage for the Olympic event!"

And here comes the amazing news that made my day! Beijing Olympics will be HCFC-free! Even for the athletics village and apartments HCFCs were not used in air conditioning. And for the athletes' dining hall, lithium bromide absorption systems with solar energy will be installed in place of HCFCs. HCFC coolants are being increasingly used by developing countries as short-term alternatives to CFCs. It does not violate the stipulation in the Montreal Protocol, but Beijing Olympics have gone for the high jump! Such long-term vision of BOCOG has sent a strong message. I was amazed to see what this 'awakening dragon' has done! I went through the review report, talked with industry suppliers and noted that China has leap-frogged! It has successfully avoided the use of HCFCs, 32 years ahead of the Montreal Protocol schedule.

The main Olympic stadium has the architecture that resembles a bird's nest! It literally looks like a gigantic nest, a nest caring for the planet and the environment, I thought.

What BOCOG has done is like crossing the borders and going beyond environmental standards set out for developing countries by raising the bar! Beijing Olympics has introduced the new environmental event in the games, called leap frogging! China has already won the Gold Medal in that event!

NOTE: BOCOG recently received 20th Anniversary Ozone Protection award from the UNEP Ozone Secretariat.

Science-driven policy making requires that legislators fully understand science. My many years of experience with bureaucrats have shown that there is a need to de-mystify science and explain the intricacies in a simple language. One of my numerous encounters during international meetings resulted in the following questions from a top-level bureaucrat: "Mr Shende, this is all fine. But how do you explain the science of ozone depletion to a mother?"

I presumed that he believed that mothers do not understand the intricacies of science unless explained in household terms. I, of course, disagreed with his assumption, but decided to take up a challenge. I developed the following dialogue between a mother and a school going child and gave to him in the next 45 minutes.

Mother: What is this ozone layer? I only know about 'chocolate layers' in the cakes I make.

Child: Mother, you do make extremely tasty chocolate layer cakes. But "Mother Earth" has made another kind of layer called the "ozone layer" - about 20-40 km above the earth! It is certainly not as thick as a chocolate layer! In fact it is very thin. Out of 1 million air molecules, less than 10 are of ozone.

Mother: I cannot believe that such a small amount would make such a difference to life on earth.

Child: But it does. Imagine making a pot of soup. Just a very small amount of herbs or spices make that soup spring to life. It's the same in the case of ozone molecules. And Mother Nature always keeps the ozone layer in balance, just as you always keep your tasty soup in delicious balance.

Child: Exactly, it blocks the deadly UV rays from the sun and saves us from skin cancer. But, the CFC-based aerosol that you sprayed on your hair when you were young, and the CFC-based air-conditioner that I used in my first car damaged the ozone layer and thus the ozone hole was created.

Mother: How could a hair spray, affect the ozone layer enough to make a hole in it?

Child: Don't you recall when father cooks pasta down in the kitchen, and we are upstairs playing cards, how just the smell of the pasta drifting upstairs makes us feel hungry? Well, it's the same process.

Mother: Oh my dear! So now I can never go to the beach to bathe in the sun, because the UV rays will strike me!

Child: Well, thanks to the global agreement called the Montreal Protocol, the wealthy countries of the world have stopped production and consumption of CFCs.

Child: I knew that you would ask this question, Mom! The money is given by the rich countries who were mainly responsible for damaging the ozone layer. Do you recall when I used to mess up my room - you used to say "You messed it up, now you clean it "! Well it's the same idea ….and developing countries are showing tremendous progress the way I am showing now in my studies!!

Mother: So why is it not showing a continuous decline, if this programme of yours has really done good work?

Child: Mom, atmospheric chemistry is very complex and even chaotic. Imagine, when all of your friends meet for a party, they make a lot of noise. Can you possibly pinpoint (or hear) what one of your friends whispers in the ear of another friend during the party? This is the same case. But thanks to the collective actions by the world community , at least we have arrested the rising trend! The risk is diminished. That's the rare success!! United nations is proud of it.

Child: Well, hold on, not so fast! It's like when you go for a long hike. You are on the right track according to the map, but you have still not reached the destination.

Mother: That sounds like UN language! Nothing is sure … everything is vague.

Child: Nothing is sure because we have made this world uncertain. Your and my generations have released so many CFCs in the atmosphere that they are still traveling to the ozone layer and will still continue to cause damage. We still drive cars and use fossil fuels to generate electricity….that causes climate change… and this climate change may delay ozone layer recovery.

I thought how useful it will be if mother of this top level bureaucrat would also be explained in similar simple language the way the bureaucracy works. END

Ulaan Baator is the coldest capital in the world and also the capital with the longest winter. Temperatures can go up to minus 60 degree Celcius and winter lasts for nearly 9 months ending in May.

I was taking my early morning brisk walk by exploring the surroundings of the Erktet Suld Gher Camp, about 25 km outside of Ulaan Baator. It was the venue for a UNEP workshop organised by the Compliance Assistance Programme of our Bangkok office. A very innovative venue indeed! We stayed in Mongolian ghers (round shaped rooms assembled and dissembled by nomads in Mongolia) - a point of departure from the usual hotel conference rooms!

End of June, traversing the steppe, amidst the bare hills is a unique experience. A vast green pasture, blue sky, a slow wind blowing across the hills made my walk a true dream walk.

Walking along a small track, I noticed something which I had never seen before. It was a marmot hurrying back to its underground hole carrying a white piece of styrofoam in its mouth. By the time I reached the hole, the marmot was already deep inside, but the white foam was a few inches down from the opening of the hole. I spotted some more white pieces brought by the marmot, arranged like a barricade at the entrance with a small opening on the side only for marmots to go inside. I could clearly see that these were pieces of insulating packaging foam picked up from a nearby construction site. The marmot was obviously preparing for winter, almost 3 months away! Marmots are the most common rodents in Mongolia. The number of underground mammals such as rabbits and marmots is higher than the above-ground animal population like camels and horses. This particular marmot must be an intelligent one and 'responsive' to change as per Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest". The insulating foam protects the marmot against harsh winter winds blowing across Mongolian pastures. Obviously, the Mongolian marmot has entered the 21st century with the full knowledge of modern markets and technological products!

Such insulating foams are traditionally blown with CFCs or HCFCs. Once blown with these gases, they form a rigid foam and are very slowly released into the atmosphere. Though by 2010, the new production and consumption of CFCs will be phased out, CFCs will remain in foams that have already been produced. As a coordinating lead author of the Special Report of IPCC/ TEAP, I knew that in 2002, nearly 2 million tonnes of CFCs were in foams that were already manufactured and in use. By 2015, this figure will be reduced to 1.3 million tonnes due to slow release of CFCs from foam into the atmosphere. By destroying the foams, such releases can be reduced further.

As I strolled in the crispy cold morning, I wondered how much CFCs are contained in such pieces of foam that are towed by the marmots of the world. Whatever their quantities, CFCs trapped in underground holes will be released to reach the ozone hole within the next few decades.

Such release will also add to global warming as CFCs are greenhouse gases. Maybe the Mongolian marmot has masterminded climate adaptation by finding an unusual solution to make the Mongolian winters warmer. I stopped this silly thought and took a picture of that insulated home of the marmot instead.

As we approached the city of Changshu, a two hour drive from Shanghai, I could see along the way the economic growth driven by the 'opening up of the Chinese economy'. On either side of the expressway I could see massive construction activities with a maze of overbridges, skyscrapers and sprawling housing complexes. A giant dragon was not only awakening but now wide awake.

Over the last two decades, the world has been celebrating opening of markets and borders. Every week China celebrates the opening of one or two large power plants to ensure a steady supply of electricity to its economy. What an unprecedented growth.

But I was in the city of Changshu to celebrate the closure of a business! Now this fact would invite many questions. A United Nations representative in China to celebrate the closure of a business? And at the invitation of the Chinese Government? It sounds like 'Alter movement' or 'Anti Globalization campaign' which aims at anti-business slogans!

Interestingly, the closure was for opening a new chapter in the history of the Montreal Protocol. China closed the manufacturing facility of CFCs ( chlorofluorocarbons) and Halons ( bromochlorofluoromethanes) on 1st July2007. The closure was two and a half years ahead of the schedule stipulated in the Montreal Protocol. China, the largest producer of CFCs and halons since 1996, shut down its business to close the ozone hole and open up the expressway leading to ozone-friendly world!

Accelerated closure of production of hazardous chemicals in China has sent a strong signal to the entire world that a simple step in early closure could open the long march towards sustainable development. The venue of the celebration was also symbolic. The city of Changshu boasts of many chemical and textile plants. It is under the administration of China's flagship city of Suzhou where economic growth is one of the highest in China. The mayor of Changshu, Mr Wang Jiankang, was also giving a subtle message to the chemical industry about the strategic approach for the chemical management, i.e. getting rid of the toxic chemicals as early as possible.

It is an untold story that by stopping the production of nearly 60,000 MT per year of CFCs and Halons, China has also contributed to reducing climate change impact, because CFCs and halons are also Green House Gases (GHG). The equivalent of CO2 reduction achieved by such closure is about greater of gigatons. This is 25 % of the global target under the Kyoto Protocol in year 2010 to 2012. That opens up further possibilities for reducing Climate Change.

The city of Suzhou is known for its natural beauty and gardens. The Chinese say that in the heaven we have paradise and on the earth we have Suzhou. With the closure of the CFC and Halons plants Suzhou looked even better.

On my flight from Delhi to Thimphu I was looking down at the rugged panoramic view of sheer majestic beauty. The gigantic wall of the Himalayas painted with summits and glaciers drive you to meditate. It leaves one dumbstruck with a thought that nature can be so attractive yet fearful at the same time. It is one of the incredible sites on earth that makes one humble and contemplative. As we pass the peaks of Annapurna and Everest the plane slowly descends into the Paro valley in Bhutan.

As we descend, am astonished by the appearance of the houses around the valley, so I ask a Bhutanese sitting next to me. "Why are the house-tops painted in red?". "Those are not painted roofs, those are the famous red chillies of Bhutan - Dalla - spread over the roofs and being sun dried - natural drying!" the Bhutanese replies. I could see the houses scattered on the slopes of the hills all drying chillies in the sun. I remembered that natural drying keeps vitamins and flavours intact. Entering Bhutan is like entering the Kingdom of Nature. I experience Bhutan as a country that is in complete harmony with nature.

Take, for example, the houses in Bhutan; a traditional construction includes a flat roof topped with a slight sloping roof. A roof on the roof! Just below the top roof is the gap that is open from the sides. Bhutanese store the bundles of hay and other agricultural material there! It allows air to cross-circulate and also provides insulation. Bhutanese houses do not require any air conditioning and they require very low artificial heating.

The major export earning for Bhutan - contrary to popular belief- is not tourism, nor the sale of timber or wild life. It is the sale of renewable energy. Bhutan produces almost all of its electricity from hydropower plants and exports more than 80 % of it. The most important contributor to the development of Bhutan is the earning from the export of electricity from renewable energy. It is the only nation in the world whose development is based on renewable energy.

How appropriate that Bhutanese measure their development and well being in terms of "GNH" - Gross National Happiness and not in terms of modern economic index of GNP - Gross National Product.

The OzonAction Programme decided to carry out regional celebrations throughout the year 2007 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone layer. I was there for that occasion. 24 countries from Asia Pacific were represented. Phasing out ODS is not a national priority, for Bhutan. "By implementing the Montreal Protocol, we are in fact putting into practice Bhutan's constitution which promotes intergenerational equity!" said Dasho Nado Rinchhen, Minister of Environment. He explained, "Indeed, the Ozone layer is a natural resource and should be used in a sustainable way." Truly, the Montreal Protocol's objective itself is based on intergenerational equity. For protection of environment, para 4 of Article 5 of the draft constitution allows the Parliament to "… enact environmental legislation and implement environmental standards and instruments based on the precautionary principle, polluter pay principle, maintenance of intergenerational equity", to ensure sustainable use of natural resources and reaffirm the sovereign rights of the State over its own biological resources. The world community is attempting to hand over the ozone layer in the same condition as it was inherited it from the previous generation. Probably, the Montreal Protocol is the only international treaty that has practical provisions of intergenerational equity.

On the way back to the airport, I see Buddhist monuments called 'Chortens' or 'stupas'. Each chorten has 5 steps representing earth, water, fire, air and ether. Wow, Bhutan, a true Kingdom of Nature. Naturally!

A flight lands smoothly from about 10-11 kms above the earth. That high level blue experience comes to an end with a light thud as the aircraft touches the ground. The blue sky color slowly vanishes as the earthly colors dominate - the grey and black runway, the white airport building and the Eastman color huge bill boards that welcome the travelers in the country. And then as one exits, there appears those red and green signs monitored by the customs officers: 'Nothing to Declare' the green zone and the forbidding red zone. Those cold, penetrating eyes of the customs officers cause butterflies in your stomach. You have to be ready to open your bags, to show your favorite alcoholic drinks that you recently purchased or the electronic gadget that you wrapped in your clothes, and then respond to the customs officer, which almost feels like a prosecutor firing questions at you in the witness box. And if you are unfortunately called aside to open your bags, you have no choice but to cooperate and hope that customs makes a fast search before a nice lady passes and gets a glimpse of some of the unmentionables that may be untidily packed in your bag.

On one occasion I was stopped and called aside. "I have come to attend a United Nations meeting and all am carrying are documents and files," I respond briefly hoping this will shorten the inspection. Not a chance. As if he hadn't heard me, he said, "Can you now open this second bag," came the cool but firm voice from the customs officer, who is unimpressed with my UN status.

The United Nations Environment Programme delivers training programmes for policy setting, in good practices for the emission reduction, and so on. The training is normally for government officers from the ministry of the environment, in enhancing their understanding of the global environmental issues. When I took up my assignment with the UNEP, I never ever imagined that one day these very customs officers would receive training from me. I never dreamt that a day would come when instead of customs asking me to open my bags, I would be telling them to open their bags and take out the training manual.

I remember one day when I was walking through the 'nothing to declare green zone' at Budapest Airport, a customs officer called out, "Are you Mr. Shende of UNEP?" I started sweating under my overcoat…and then he said, "I remember last year you had given us training on the prevention of the illegal trade of the CFCs." I was so relieved and felt very strangely proud when other passengers behind me were looking at me with awe. I was then escorted graciously towards the exit - not the green zone welcome but royal red carpet welcome, I thought. As for my bags, they still went through screening! Customary welcome by Customs, I thought.

Once at Delhi Airport at 2 o clock in the morning, the customs authorities located me when I collected my bag from the creaking conveyor belt and made my way through the green zone. A customs officer gave me a broad smile and invited me to his small cozy cabin. After my bags went through the screening machine and with an uncharacteristic smile that one never sees on the faces of the customs officers, he offered me some Delhi wala masala tea and said, 'I like the Green Customs Training Programme. You have packed such interesting information on many international environmental agreements in your training guide. It's a nice change for us to receive training in the illegal trade in the environmentally sensitive trade.'

f the present generation has to write the history of the future, such an exercise could be termed as, for want of better words, digging up the past or peering into a crystal ball. I strongly felt such a need when I was in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, just a few days back. Eighty percent of Turkmenistan is desert and nothing grows there. But ideas and concepts, visions and the dreams that grow there are plentiful.

I was in Ashgabat to participate in the 6th Regional Network Meeting of National Ozone Units of 11 countries in the Europe and Central Asia region. The year 2007 being the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol, the Network meeting was launched with much fanfare, with amazing performances by an orchestra of students dressed in traditionally colorful costumes that include the Turkmen cap placed on the top back of the head. As part of the programme, the participants visited the adjacent National Museum of Turkmenistan. One of the objects in the museum that attracted my attention was a replica of a well of an ancient castle. The guide explained that wells in the 3rd century A.D. were not only used to draw water but also to keep them cool and preserve them. The people at that time suspended food deep down in the wells. Crossbars were installed at the mouth of the wells and from there food articles were suspended deep inside to cool and preserve them. My modern 'technologist mind' was simply and literally taken aback. I expressed my astonishment for this simple method of preservation of perishable food. Unaware of the background of my 'CFC trained' mind, the guide went on to explain, "But that was not the only way to preserve the meat and vegetables at that time. People in that era, dried salted food in the sun and buried it in the ground for several days. Did you know that a few feet below the earth there is a cold zone?" the guide asked.

I remembered the ruins of the forts near my village in India which I visited as a young student. I learned that grain storage was underground. Surely there too the villagers must have used the 'deep down earth refrigerator' even for the preservation of perishable food. The storage spaces were large, which meant that they were underground 'community refrigerators'. Amazing, I thought, because the need for preservation also gave rise to community living and team spirit. The natural way to implement the Refrigerant Management Plan for the community, I thought.

Later in the night, after the meeting, I was reading a book, 'Ruhnama' written by the former President of Turkmenistan. It is the book that is omnipresent in Ashgabat, the "city of love". The book was given to each workshop participant as a souvenir. As I browsed through it, my eyes were glued to one of the thoughts expressed there. It said that modern science and its inventions contradict nature. How true! So-called science has brought us so far - from the use of ' down to earth community-refrigerator that utilized mother earth's cool affection' to the 'domestic-refrigerator that utilized CFCs tearing apart nature's protective stratospheric ozone layer high up above us'. What progress!

Adversity may be the mother of invention, but that invention has to be thoughtful. The civilization that lived in the deserts could invent methods of prosperous and sustainable living by harnessing nature. We now need the fathers of the invention to assess the contradictions of their creation and make 'natural and sustainable choices'. What we need is the regular release of a Global Civilization Outlook (GCO) just like the existing Global Environmental Outlook (GEO).

It is time, I thought, that we start collecting such not-in-kind technologies that our forefathers used without contradicting nature. Anniversaries are the occasion to reflect on the past to face the future challenges. Frankly, the past of the Montreal Protocol does not start from 1989; it goes back much farther to the time when civilization began.

How the Montreal Protocol implements the Kyoto Protocol: the Untold Story
Paris, 15 February 2007.

About a week ago, I was in a taxi headed for The Hague train station to catch the Thalys that would take me back to Paris. The overcast sky with intermittent drizzles reminded me of Parisian weather. Just a few hours back, The Hague had experienced its first snow fall of the winter. The taxi driver, from Suriname, talked about 'climate change' and made Dutch monologues, which seemed to signal that he was not sure of what is happening. I had spent most of that day discussing that same subject in a different context with an informal group of experts from around the world called the 'Stockholm Group.' The context of that meeting was , among other things, relation between the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols.

While waiting for my train, I settled in one of those station cafes. To kill time, I opened my laptop and googled 'Montreal Protocol' and got about 1.04 million references. Then I googled the much talked-about 'Kyoto Protocol' and not surprisingly I got about 1.2 million references. Out of inquisitiveness I decided , then, to google the term 'Montreal and Kyoto Protocol'. Interestingly, that only gave me about 9000 references.

I realized that the number of references that pop up on Google is no indicator of the importance of that subject. The linkage between the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Kyoto Protocol on climate change will soon be taking a critical place in the international scenario on the international governance of the Multilateral Environment Agreements.

Curiously, the first time the experts started talking about the links between the two atmospheric Protocols was in the context of conflicts between the two Protocols arising out of the use of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbon gases). HFCs are the substitutes for CFCs which are not ozone depleting but are global warming. So, the issue was rightly raised: we are solving one problem through the Montreal Protocol but at the same time, we are adding to another environmental problem of global warming. The expert group was convened under IPCC and TEAP to review this issue. I was the lead author coordinating the report. The outcome of that assessment is much more than what we understood till then about the linkage between the Montreal and Kyoto Protocol.

Now the experts are discussing, analyzing and concluding how the Montreal Protocol is contributing in very significant ways to mitigate the climate change. Firstly, CFCs and other ozone depleting substances like, halons, HCFCs and CTC are global warming. Their global warming potential is 100 to 10,000 times more than carbon dioxide. More than 2 million tonnes of such chemicals have been phased out over the last two decades as a result of the Montreal Protocol. Where HFCs are being used as substitutes, the energy efficiencies of many of the appliances have improved. In such cases use of HFCs becomes climate friendly. It is not only emissions of the gases per se that should be the determining factor for the ozone and climate friendly chemicals, but the life cycle analysis of use of such gases that are now recommended. The policy setting needs to build on such sustainable development tools.

A presentation (the detailed paper will be published in the reputed science journal next month after peer review,) made by Dr Velders of Netherlands's Environmental Assessment Agency in The Hague meeting was quite revealing. It showed that over all benefits by 2010 of the implementation of the Montreal Protocol would be the reduction in the range of 10 to 12 giga tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year even after counting the off set of use of HFCs. This is an extraordinary contribution of the Montreal Protocol for the cause of climate change. Just for the comparison, what the Kyoto Protocol has set as a target of reduction of just about 1 giga tonnes of the carbon dioxide equivalent per year for the average of years 2008 to 2012, the Montreal Protocol contribution is 10 times more than what the world community agreed in 1997 when the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated.

It is therefore time that the world realizes that technology has tremendous potential to innovate, and many times policy makers fail to factor that in. This is the story that needs to be told to a wider audience.

Being aware is to be conscious, to be conversant and to be mindful. Awareness is the state of mind that makes us think. Initially while working on awareness activity programmes in the United Nations, I considered that the tools for making civil society aware of environmental issues are posters, labels, booklets, web sites, guidebooks, workshops and meetings. 12 years back, the former Environment Minister of China, Mr. Xie Zhenhua, and the former Director General of China's State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and I used a different mechanism to create awareness among the citizens of Beijing. This mechanism demonstrated the long term impacts. It clearly illustrated the point that it is not the tools that create the awareness but the way those tools reach out to society and the way the messages are communicated and understood by the recipients is of critical importance.

We decided that on International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer we would stand in the street near the huge market of Beijing and create awareness about Ozone Layer Protection. We turned the "market" into a "marketplace of ideas".

16 September 1995, Beijing's sky was being lit with the autumn morning sun; an inspiring event was unfolding at Xidan Commercial area, a major shopping complex in Beijing. Mr. Xie Zhenhua, and Mr. Liu Yi, Former Director General of SEPA and in charge of the Ozone Layer Protection unit, my colleague Jim Curlin, myself and other high government officers stood at the huge entrance of the market distributing UNEP posters translated into Chinese to the consumers who had come there for holiday shopping. The message Mr. Xie and Mr. Yi were giving with the help of UNEP was simple: "do not buy products containing Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) - they destroy the Earth's ozone shield." To attract the shoppers' attention, SEPA had arranged for a band of school children to be present to sing songs on environmental protection.

There were no international experts on communication, no speeches, no lectures, and no power-point presentations. Directly reaching the people was the point of power! The event took place on an open street and the audience consisted of everyday people. While the sun over their heads emitted powerful UV rays, the Minister emitted a more powerful message about the need to protect our ozone layer. It was an event that symbolised the beginning of 'grass-roots' capacity building in China for the protection of the ozone layer.

China has come a long way since that 'grass root' awareness raising campaign. This creative but effective mechanism to raise awareness has made quite an impact on my mind. I experienced the awareness raising activity that was action oriented, that used the real 'market mechanism', that availed the opportunity when China's economy was embracing globalisation. I found the similarity between the Chinese approach and that of some of the green NGO's activism which uses street as theatre! And is it not really a 'bottom-up' approach for the capacity building ?

There are a myriad of ways to enjoy the city of Montreal. Walking through a maze of underground walk-ways lined with modern and magnificent shops, browsing through the books in a multi-story book store, sitting in the bookstore's café….. just to highlight a few of the pleasures.

Statistics shows that 40% of the people of Montreal shop in its underground malls. During Montreal's notorious winters this percentage must soar. Walking through the network of pathways, I reflected on how 'modern society' lives. Was this not how primitive societies lived, in underground caves, to protect themselves from the harsh weather? Going backward to move forward, I thought.

And there is yet another benefit from spending most of the time underground …. Particularly in Montreal which lies on a high latitude of the northern hemisphere. It protects the people of Montreal from the sun's UV rays that penetrate through the stratosphere because of the depletion of the ozone layer. Is this not adaptation to ozone layer depletion? I mused... The people of Montreal have to wait until 2050 for the ozone hole to close. And scientists say that, due to late action on climate change, they will have to wait for a further 15 years. By that time probably all of Montreal will have moved underground. The underground life of the people of Montreal also saves energy needed for heating and cooling the space and hence help to mitigate climate change. One solution for two global problems!!

For me, one of the most enjoyable experiences in Montreal is to visit an amazing place on Saint Catherine, a trendy shop called 'Future Shop', which carries the latest electronic and digital gadgets. The fun of shopping there and buying the latest goods….with the added joy of getting taxes back while leaving Canada is very rewarding indeed! The staff of the shop not only explain the functioning and utility of these gadgets, but can also give a futuristic estimate of the 'next versions'. The digital "future" of mankind is displayed there with extraordinary verve and vigor!! "Can I get a 15 mega pixel camera?" I asked. "Wait for next year" came the response from the salesman.

It is interesting that the landmark international agreement for the protection of the Ozone Layer was signed in the city of Montreal, and thus called 'The Montreal Protocol'. And it is not just a coincidence that the Secretariat of the first ever Multilateral Fund dedicated to assisting developing countries to implement this single-focus (ozone layer protection) global accord agreement is located in the city of Montreal. The Secretariat services the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund which makes the funding decisions for the activities in developing countries.

I recently led UNEP's delegation to the 51st meeting of the Executive Committee which has succeeded over the last 15 years to provide very effective assistance to developing countries and has realized the desired impacts. I found that the discussions during that meeting were turning futuristic. It was very gratifying to see the members of the Executive Committee (seven from developed countries and seven from developing countries) debating issues that would arise in future, 7 to 20 years from now! "Can we fund capacity building and projects to phase-out HCFCs, which are to be phased-out more than 20 years from now?" … "Wait for next year", was the decision.

An amazing Committee indeed, that has done extraordinary work for the last 15 year and now looking into the Future…. The Montreal Protocol's 'Future Shop' in Montreal!!