Geneva, 6 September 1999
NEGOTIATORS REACH FINAL AGREEMENT ON
INNOVATIVE PROTOCOL TO COMBAT AIR POLLUTION
Negotiators from Canada, the United States and most European
countries, meeting at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) in
Geneva, have put the final touches to a new Protocol to the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution.
The goal of this innovative Protocol is to cut emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organic compounds so as
to protect our environment and our health from the effects of acidification,
eutrophication and ground-level ozone. It is the first protocol to tackle several
pollutants and several effects so comprehensively.
The Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level
Ozone lays down differentiated emission ceilings for the countries that sign up to it.
These ceilings are based on the impact that their emissions have on public health and on
the vulnerability of the environment that they pollute. The aim of the negotiators was to
find cost-effective strategies to cut these emissions. According to the emission ceilings,
most countries will have to make sweeping cuts – some by as much as 90% – by
2010. The few countries whose emissions cause little damage will have to stabilize their
emissions.
The multi-pollutant, multi-effect Protocol also foresees limit values
for new and existing stationary sources of pollution, in particular large combustion
plants, and for new mobile sources, such as cars and lorries. Moreover, the Protocol
introduces mandatory measures for agriculture in an attempt to control emissions of
ammonia (manure, artificial fertilizer). It is the first Protocol to the Convention on
Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution to cover agriculture.
The Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level
Ozone will be ready for adoption at a meeting of environment ministers in Gothenburg
(Sweden) on 30 November which will also mark the 20th anniversary of the
Convention.
For more information, please contact:
Henning WUESTER
UN/ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations, office 332
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: (+41 22) 917 23 63
Fax: (+41 22) 907 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]