While the UNEP/DTIE OzonAction Programme and the Ozone Secretariat have different roles and responsibilities (the former assists developing countries and countries with economies in transition to implement the provisions of the Montreal Protocol and the latter serves as the Secretariat of the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol), the two institutions combined resources to encourage non-Parties to ratify the Montreal Protocol.
Under a coordinated and targeted approach called “Project 2002,” the two entities identified and worked with the remaining developing countries that had not ratified, approved, or acceded to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments. This approach included:
- Explaining economic, trade, and other implications of ratifying or not ratifying the treaties and amendments to key Government officials.
- Obtaining financial support so that non-Party countries could participate in meetings of Regional Networks of ODS officers (see case study in Guideline 34(c)
), providing constructive “peer pressure” from other countries to encourage them to ratify and participate in the implementation process.
- Undertaking missions (including by UNEP Regional Directors and OzonAction staff) to non-Party countries to discuss ratification with high-level Government officials.
- Information support related to ratification, including explanation of procedures.
Another innovative mechanism for encouraging non-Parties in developing countries to ratify is the Finnish Ozone Trust Fund, which was established in 1991 under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. This fund provided assistance through country-specific studies, training, networking, and information exchange to facilitate and expedite the countries joining the Montreal Protocol. This programme was in addition to Finland’s contribution to the Multilateral Fund and was conducted through a cooperative arrangement with the OzonAction Programme.
For more details, see http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/
library/mmc/lib_detail.asp?r=3769
In part due to the above measures, as of August 2006 the only non-Parties to the Montreal Protocol were Equatorial Guinea, East Timor, and Iraq.