K. Madhava Sarma Explained

K. Madhava Sarma
Birth Date:8 July 1938
Birth Place:Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Death Place:Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality:Indian
Alma Mater:Andhra University
Indian Statistical Institute
Occupation:Indian Administrative Service
Known For:First Executive Secretary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1991-2000)
Credits:, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by
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Office:may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) -->
Relatives:raghuram nephew Maternal
Awards:US EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award (1996)
Special Vienna Convention Award for Ozone Layer Protection (2005)
UNEP Montreal Protocol Visionaries Award (2007)
US EPA Best-of-the-Best Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award (2007)

K. Madhava Sarma (1938-2010) was the first Executive Secretary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Ozone Secretariat) from 1991 to 2000 at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).[1] He is considered one of the founders and leading figures in the success of the Montreal Protocol that established legally binding controls on the production and consumption of chemicals that cause ozone depletion and damage the stratospheric ozone layer which protects the Earth against the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.[2] [3] These effects include skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness and cataracts as well as harm to plants and animals.[4] The Montreal Protocol was recognized by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations as being “perhaps the single most successful international environmental agreement to date" and went on to become the first treaty in the history of the United Nations to be universally ratified in 2008 by 197 countries.[5]

Since the inception of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, 98% of Ozone Depleting Substances have been phased out. Most Ozone Depleting Substances are also potent greenhouse gases and hence the Protocol also contributes to reduced global warming.[6]

Early life, education and career

K. Madhava Sarma was born in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh State on July 8, 1938. He was the fourth of nine siblings and his father was a mathematics teacher. After his schooling in Vijayawada he graduated from the Mathematics Honours program at Andhra University in Vishakapatnam in 1957 with a BSc and MSc in Mathematics. He then studied at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata and graduated with an MSc. in Planning and Econometrics in 1959.

Sarma wrote the Indian Administrative Service(IAS) Civil Services Examination and was successfully inducted into the 1962 batch of the IAS for the state of Tamil Nadu.[7]

He started his career as trainee Assistant Collector, Tirunelveli district and then as Sub- Collector of Tuticorin district. Over the next two decades he served as Collector of the districts of Cuddalore and Tirunelveli, Commissioner of Madurai Municipal Corporation, Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Public Works Department and Special Officer, Chennai Corporation. In 1986 Sarma moved to New Delhi to serve as Joint Secretary and then as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India.[8] [9] [10]

Ozone Action

Sarma was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and represented India in the negotiations leading to the London Amendment of the Montreal Protocol in 1990. The London Amendment included the establishment of the Multilateral Fund, the financial mechanism that would enable developing country participation towards enforceable obligations to protect the ozone layer.[11] [12] In 1991 Sarma was appointed to be the Executive Secretary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Ozone Secretariat).

Ozone Secretariat

During Sarma's nine-year tenure as Executive Secretary of the Montreal Protocol from 1991-2000, the Protocol was amended and adjusted to place more stringent controls on halon source gases known to cause ozone depletion grew to well over 150 parties.[13] The Amendment of 1997 created a system of licensing,[14] and the Protocol has stringent reporting, monitoring and verification requirements for 96 ozone-depleting chemicals.[15]

Strengthening Montreal Protocol and Lessons for Climate Change

In 2000, following his retirement from the executive position at the Ozone Secretariat, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol appointed Sarma as a Senior Expert Member of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP). He was also a member of the Technology and Finance Committee on Montreal Protocol of the Government of India. In 2002, he co-authored (with Stephen O. Andersen) 'Protecting the Ozone Layer: The United Nations History’ – the definitive and comprehensive chronicle of events and processes that helped save the ozone layer.[16] [17]

In 2007, on the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, the Parties agreed to accelerate the phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) – chemicals which are ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) as well as potent greenhouse gases and to amend the Montreal Protocol to control the HFCs which were once necessary substitutes for ODSs, but were no longer needed because environmentally superior technology became available.

In 2007 he co-authored (with Stephen O. Andersen and Kristen N. Taddonio) 'Technology Transfer for the Ozone Layer: Lessons for Climate Change' that assessed over 1000 technology transfer projects of the Montreal Protocol and identified lessons that can be applied towards climate change.[18]

In 2009, Sarma collaborated with Nobel Laureate Mario Molina, Durwood Zaelke, Stephen O. Andersen, Veerabhadran Ramanathan & Donald Kaniaru on a paper that laid out the strategy to focus on climate mitigation using existing laws and institutions "Reducing abrupt climate change risk using the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory actions to complement cuts in CO2 emissions."[19] [20] On 15 October 2016, the parties to the Montreal Protocol signed an amendment in Kigali. They agreed to phase down the production and usage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which could prevent up to 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) of global warming by 2100, and continue to protect the ozone layer.[21]

Later life

Sarma served as trustee secretary of the board of trustees of the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) from 2003 to 2010. CMI was founded in 1989 by Professor C.S. Seshadri and a team of mathematicians as part of the SPIC Science Foundation. Sarma managed reforms including restructuring and government approval of corporate donations as well as identifying and purchasing a building site and supervising the design and construction of the new campus.[22] As a result of these efforts, in October 2005 CMI moved to its new campus at Siruseri, on the southern outskirts of Chennai and in December 2006 was recognized by the Government of India as a University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956.[23] [24] The CMI has instituted the annual K. Madhava Sarma Memorial Distinguished Lecture in memory of his contributions to the Institute.[25]

Personal life

K. Madhava Sarma married Ramalakshmi in 1964 and had three daughters and three grandchildren. He died on September 30, 2010, in Vellore following a brief illness.

Honors

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Montreal Protocol Who's Who . Ozone Secretariat . United Nations Environment Programme . 18 June 2018.
  2. Bauer . Steffen . The Ozone Secretariat: Administering the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer . Global Governance Working Paper . 2007 . No. 28 . 13–14 . 25 July 2020 . The Global Governance Project, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, IVM . Amsterdam et al..
  3. Web site: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer: Celebrating 20 years of progress in 2007 - Awards Book . Ozone Secretariat . United Nations Environment Programme . https://web.archive.org/web/20080328112419/http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/Awards-Booklet.pdf . 7 July 2020. 2008-03-28 .
  4. Web site: 20 Questions & Answers . Ozone Secretariat . United Nations Environment Programme . 7 July 2020.
  5. Web site: Ozone Secretariat: Timeline . Ozone Secretariat . United Nations Environment Programme . 12 July 2020.
  6. Web site: About Montreal Protocol . OzonAction . 29 October 2018 . United Nations Environment Programme . 7 July 2020.
  7. Web site: Tribute to the Late Mr.K. Madhava Sarma . Assessment Panels . United Nations Environment Programme . 12 July 2020.
  8. Web site: United States Environmental Award goes to Ozone Protection Expert in United Nations Agency . United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases . United Nations . 16 October 2018.
  9. Web site: Cuddalore District: Collectors Roll of Honors List . Cuddalore District . Government of Tamil Nadu . 12 July 2020.
  10. Web site: Tirunelveli District: List of Collectors . Tirunelveli District . Government of Tamil Nadu . 12 July 2020.
  11. Book: Goal Zero: Success Stories from Asia and the Pacific in phasing out ozone depleting substances . 2010 . UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) . 3 . 18 July 2020.
  12. Bagai . Atul . K. Madhava Sarma (1938-2010): Path-finder and Trail-blazer in Ozone Protection . OzonAction Special Issue: Protecting Our Atmosphere for Generations to Come - 25 Years of the Montreal Protocol 2012 . 2012 . 8 . June 18, 2018.
  13. Book: Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer . 2020 . The Secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, United Nations Environment Programme . Nairobi, Kenya . 9789966076793 . 2 . Fourteenth . 25 July 2020.
  14. Web site: Historical Timeline . Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol . 14 October 2018.
  15. Book: Compliance With The Multilateral Environmental Agreements To Protect The Ozone Layer . Beyerlin . U. . Stoll . P. . Wolfrum . R. . Ensuring compliance with multilateral environmental agreements: A dialogue between practitioners and academia . 2006 . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers . 90-04-14617-2 . 25–38.
  16. Book: Sarma . Madhava K. . Andersen . Stephen O. . Protecting the Ozone Layer: The United Nations History . 2002 . Earthscan Press . London . 978-1853839054 . First.
  17. News: Rajamani . R . Book Review: Environmental Protection . 14 October 2018 . The Hindu.
  18. Book: Sarma . Madhava K. . Andersen . Stephen O. . Taddonio . Kristen N. . Technology Transfer for the Ozone Layer: Lessons for Climate Change . 2007 . Earthscan Press . London . 9781844074730 . First.
  19. Kaniaru . Donald . Ramanathan . Veerabhadran . Andersen . Stephen O. . Sarma . K. Madhava . Zaelke . Durwood . Molina . Mario . Reducing abrupt climate change risk using the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory actions to complement cuts in CO2 emissions . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 8 December 2009 . 106 . 49 . 20616–20621 . 10.1073/pnas.0902568106 . 19822751 . 2791591 . en . 0027-8424. free .
  20. Book: Zaelke . Durwood . Borgford-Parnell . Nathan . Andersen . Stephen O. . Primer on HFCs . May 19, 2017 . Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development . Washington DC . 35 .
  21. Web site: The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol: Another global commitment to stop climate change . United Nations Environment Programme: News and Stories . 16 January 2018 . 20 October 2018.
  22. News: Ramesh . N . Bid to rekindle interest in Maths . 16 October 2018 . The Hindu . Oct. 3, 2002.
  23. News: Kakodkar cautions against missing research-technology connectivity . 16 October 2018 . The Hindu . Aug. 7, 2004.
  24. Web site: Annual Report 2010-2011 . Chennai Mathematical Institute . 18 July 2020.
  25. Web site: Chennai Mathematical Institute Activities . Chennai Mathematical Institute . 16 October 2018.
  26. Book: Champions of the World: Stratospheric Ozone Protection Awards . August 1997 . United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA) . 113 . EPA430-R-97-023 . 19 July 2020.
  27. Web site: 2005 Ozone Awards . United Nations Environment Programme . 18 July 2020.
  28. Web site: 20th Anniversary Seminar of the Montreal Protocol "Celebrating 20 years of Progress" . Linkages: A multimedia resource for environment and development policy makers . International Institute for Sustainable Development . 16 October 2018.
  29. Web site: EPA Honors Best-of-the-Best Ozone Protection Award Winners . United States Environmental Protection Agency . 1 May 2020.

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