Editorial note

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, negotiated under the auspices of UNEP, is intended to protect humans and the environment from the harmful effects of activities which modify the ozone layer (Article 2(1)). To achieve this end, the Convention requires Parties to cooperate, according to their means, in research and legislative measures (Article 2(2)(a) and (b)) and to formulate agreed standards, procedures and measures in the form of Protocols and Annexes (Article 2(2)(c)). Parties are also required to facilitate the exchange of relevant ‘scientific, technical, socioeconomic commercial and legal’ information (Article 4(1)), as set out in Annex II. A further obligation is to facilitate exchange of technology, subject to relevant national law (Article 4(2)). Parties are required to report on the measures taken to implement the Convention and Protocols (Article 5). The Convention establishes a Conference of the Parties which meets on a regular basis to review the Convention (Article 6). UNEP provides Secretariat functions, including the co-ordination of meetings and reports to the Conference of the Parties (Article 7). If a dispute arises between the Parties, the Convention provides several methods of dispute resolution, including: (a) mediation at the request of the Parties involved (Article 11(2)); (b) voluntary submission to arbitration and/or to the ICJ (Article 11(3)); (c) the submission of the dispute to a conciliation body (Article 11(4)).