Topic: Behind the scenes at the Montreal Protocol
Speaker:
Time:
Introduction:
In this presentation, Vic Buxton will share with you some of the closed-room and often hidden stories behind the creation of the Montreal Protocol, along with the problems encountered and the mechanism used to secure the agreement.
Bio:
Vic is a chemist and chemical engineer with a Master’s Degree in civil engineering, the route to environmental engineering in the 1960s. He joined the Ontario Water Resources Commission (later to become the Ontario Ministry of the Environment). He was assigned in the first days on the job to be a negotiator for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
He was recruited by Environment Canada when it was formed in 1971. One of his first tasks was to develop badly needed environmental protection regulations. He wrote the early regulations taking phosphates out of detergents that were causing algae blooms in Lake Erie. He developed the regulation abolishing the use of the carcinogenic chemicals, PCBs, and many other chemicals.
At Environment Canada, Vic represented Canada in the development of many agreements and treaties. He was a major architect of the Montreal Protocol and Canada’s chief negotiator (the most successful treaty of all time: every listed UN nation ratified it). He served as Canada’s chief technical negotiator for the Earth Summit held in Brazil in June 1992.
After retiring from Environment Canada, he served at numerous UN Agencies to assist developing countries develop environmental programs and regulations. Under contract to UN Agencies, he worked in 79 countries.
Vic has been recognized with many Awards and Honours including:
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Environment Canada Award of Excellence (1987)
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UNEP Citation of Excellence (1988)
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Government of Canada (Service Wide) Award of Excellence (1989)
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Canada 125 medal Winner (1993)
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Austrian Government Ozone layer Protection Prize (1995)
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USA EPA Ozone Award (1996)
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Bretton Woods Award (1997)
Administration:
– The CACOR Sponsor is Ted Manning
– Please invite friends and colleagues but send Art a listing for security reasons.
– One brief question at a time please. Others are waiting.
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