1987

Montreal Protocol: the first major environmental protocol

International agreement designed to phase out the production of substances that deplete the ozone layer. It was signed in 1987 by 24 countries and the European Economic Community. In 2009, no less than 196 countries had signed it. It thus became the first environmental protocol to be universally rat-ified. One of the positive outcomes of this Protocol is that the production of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gas, largely responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer, has almost ceased