For more than two decades, the 1987 Montreal Protocol has served as a shining example of how to get things done on the environment in the international arena. By banding countries together to preserve Earth’s shield against harmful ultraviolet rays, the agreement has already eliminated many ozone-depleting substances and should see off most of the rest by 2030. And in doing so, it has done more to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions than the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which was signed expressly for that purpose. (Editorial)

Europeans back efforts to amend the Montreal Protocol to address global warming.

In your Special Report 'Cutting out the chemicals', you discuss the possible shift of regulatory control of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to the Montreal Protocol (Nature 457, 518

The Montreal Protocol with its subsequent amendments and adjustments has been providing a global regulatory framework for the phase out of ozone depleting substances. Till date, CFCs, CTC, HBFCs, methyl chloroform and halons have been already phased out completely by the developed countries and a number of other ODSs are scheduled to follow.

Environmental policymaking has been equated with the art of making the right decisions based on an insufficient understanding of the underlying problems.