The issue of ozone depletion was first discussed in 1976 at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council. After the Ozone Layer Coordination Committee (CCOL) was established by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to periodically assess the ozone depletion, experts on the ozone layer came together in a meeting in 1977. The first intergovernmental contacts regarding the reduction of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) started in 1981 and this initiative resulted in the adoption of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in March 1985. The Vienna Convention encouraged intergovernmental cooperation in research, systematic monitoring of the ozone layer, monitoring of CFC production, and information sharing. The signed parties of the convention are tasked with taking general measures against human-induced activities that change the structure of the ozone layer and protect the environment and human health. It is a framework agreement that does not contain legally binding controls or targets.
Following the agreement on the convention, work was initiated on a protocol that would enable the use and production of ozone-depleting substances to be brought under control without delay. As a result of these studies, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted in September 1987.