The Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was held at Cairo in November 1998. Its agenda focused on strengthening international efforts to reverse the destruction of the Earth's protective ozone layer. For the first time, it took up the challenge of making policies to protect the ozone layer consistent with the ongoing efforts to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. In February 1999, at Cartagena, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity examined the risks that biotechnology may pose for biological diversity and human health, its socio-economic implications for developing countries and the relevance of biosafety concerns in developing a precautionary approach to risk prevention. The international community is pursuing a protocol on biosafety that, among other aims, seeks to ensure that living modified organisms are transported into countries only with their prior informed consent.
Headway continues to be made in the global chemical safety agenda.
International consensus was finally reached on the need for a legally binding treaty to promote chemical safety by preventing unwanted trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides. In this regard, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade was opened for signature in September 1998. In January 1999, at the second negotiating session, solid progress was made in the drafting of a global treaty to reduce and eliminate environmental emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants. The Criteria Expert Group has now met. The third negotiating session will be held at Geneva in September 1999, and a series of regional workshops are planned.