Toward a New Foreign Policy.

Protection of the ozone layer was one of the hottest environmental issues during the 1992 presidential race. Considering the new scientific evidence showing the negative synergies between global climate change and ozone depletion, these twin crises should be playing a major role in the environmental positions of candidates in the 2000 campaigns.

The next president will be in a unique position to change existing policies to make them more consistent with the dear need to stop the spiraling damage to the earth's atmosphere. Regardless of the composition of the next Congress, the president has the executive authority to enact a number of necessary reforms. For example, the new president could require the EPA and the USDA to ban all use of methyl bromide in shipping, except in emergencies. Furthermore, the president could distinguish himself by committing to work with Congress to increase the funding portion that the U.S. con tributes to the Multilateral Fund. Such leadership could encourage other countries to take similar actions.

The U.S. needs to ensure that the goals of the Montreal Protocol do not undermine the Kyoto Protocol. To do so, it should support the legal linkage between the two protocols and should ban the adoption of HCFCs, HFCs, and other global warming chemicals as alternatives to ozone depleting chemicals, unless there is no other technologically feasible alternative.

The Montreal Protocol is already linked with the Basel Convention on the International Transport of Hazardous Wastes. In 1995, the parties to the Basel Convention agreed to ban the trade of ozone depleting substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol. The parties to the Montreal Protocol should take a similar decision to ensure that technologies adopted as alternatives to ozone depleting substances do not undermine the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.

The Montreal Protocol's current phaseout of 2030 for HCFCs is too distant to curb either ozone layer destruction or global warming. An accelerated phaseout would compel the chemical industry to innovate as it did when it developed HCFCs as an alternative to CFCs.

HCFCs should be phased out no later than 2004. According to the 1998 scientific assessment, eliminating HCFC production is the third most important action that the parties can take to accelerate the recovery of the ozone layer. (Assuming full compliance with all of the phase-out requirements to date, the first and second most important actions would be to eliminate both Halon-1211 and Halon-1301 emissions worldwide by the end of this year.) A 2004 phaseout of HCFCs would also send a dear signal to developing countries not to use interim technologies when seeking CFC alternatives. Instead, they should be adopting longer-term solutions that protect the ozone layer and mitigate global warming. The existing 2030 phaseout does little to guide industry into the investments needed for research and development to make existing non-fluorocarbon-based alternatives more affordable.

In addition, the EPA should, as part of SNAP, support the emergence in the U.S. of non-ozone depleting alternatives, such as water foam blowing techniques and hydrocarbon and ammonia refrigerants. The EPA should also provide small grants to companies wishing to adopt the most appropriate technology and should track new product performance to inform future policy and negotiating positions. As Washington gains more experience with these alternatives, it will be in a better position to advocate for them at the international level.

The U.S. could also increase its financial commitment to the Multilateral Fund, which helps developing countries find nondestructive alternatives. Currently the U.S. provides about 24% of the total budget of the fund. Although this is the largest share contributed by any country, it is only fair, since U.S.-based companies manufacture the majority of ozone depleting chemicals. The U.S. could increase its share to the fund by earmarking a portion of its ozone depleting chemical tax. In addition, Washington should urge other countries to pay their commitments on time and in full. Japan, for instance, has committed to pay just under 20% but has never paid this amount in full. Italy, Germany, and other countries have also failed to meet their commitments.

Instead of looking back at the successful CFC phaseout, the U.S. needs to be looking toward the future and working to rapidly phase out all ozone depleting substances without compromising the goals of other treaties. This global atmospheric crisis is man-made and is not insurmountable. Through a combination of scientific know-how, industry innovation, political will, and sound public policy, the U.S. can help protect the ozone layer without adding to global warming.

Key Recommendations

* The U.S. should legally link the two agreements to ensure that the implementation of the Montreal Protocol doesn't undermine the Kyoto Protocol.

* The U.S. should work to phase out HCFCs by 2004.

* The U.S. should increase the amount of funding it provides to the Multilateral Fund by designating a portion of the existing ozone depleting chemical tax to the fund.

Jessica Vallette Revere is Atmosphere Campaign Director at Friends of the Earth.