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An earlier paper gave the background to the rôle of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the observed depletion of the Earth's stratospheric ozone, plus details of the Montreal Protocol that restricts the production and consumption of CFCs. In this paper, recent data on both the ozone depletion and the global greenhouse warming that result from CFC emissions are given. The progress by the chemical companies to identify replacements for CFCs is also discussed.

The flux residues on almost all soldered printed circuit boards are removed using the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) 113. In just one year's time production of this solvent will almost certainly be curtailed, on a scale agreed internationally. This is a major issue that needs to be addressed urgently by the electronics assembly industry worldwide. This paper presents (i) the background that has led to the restrictions being placed on production and consumption of solvent 113, (ii) the international agreement and timetable for the implementation of the restrictions and (iii) the perceived opportunities that are available to the electronics assembly industry to meet this challenge.

Although free trade law and environmental law especially contained in multi lateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are more or less compatible, however, some twenty MEAs might create a conflicting situation with the GATT/WTO regime. Efforts through CTESS are being made to make the two regimes compatible with each other. But an amicable solution towards harmonizing them still seems to be far. It is said that if all WTO Member states have the political will to agree to one suggestion, the problem can be solved. But due to politicization of the WTO, a common view is difficult to be reached. It is true that all states want protection of the environment. It is evident from the fact that many MEAs have relatively a large number of members, and their member states are sincerely working on enforcing treaty norms contained in them. But when it comes to a conflict situation with international trade, differences among them becomes eminent. In spite of this, an optimistic view that the two regimes can be made complementary to each other is still being given importance. It is for this reason that states are forwarding their suggestions to the CTESS and the discussion is being carried forward on those suggestions. The paper critically examines the reality of ‘conflict or congruity’ between free trade law and environmental law, evaluates various suggestions to make the two regimes compatible with each other, and offers one suggestion that can bring about harmony and will be viable.

This paper summarises briefly all the substitutive techniques for CFC‐113 and 1,1,1 ‐trichloroethane blend cleaning, including the use of ‘no‐clean’ and controlled atmosphere soldering, with emphasis on high‐reliability applications. Each technique is discussed with regard to its influence on the final reliability of the assembly under normal and abnormal storage and working conditions. Reliability is determined by numerous other parameters which are frequently ignored, such as the component layout for best cleaning quality. The requirements of conformal coating are also frequently given scant attention. In practical terms, this paper may help those selecting a substitutive soldering/cleaning process to choose one which will meet their quality requirements at minimum cost.

Purpose: Discarded electronic products have become one of the major and dangerous waste streams in the world, which is growing at a fast rate and has become a serious topic of concern. ‘E-waste’ has become a substantial waste stream in recent decades due to rapid technological advancements, consumerism, economic development, urbanisation and obsolescence, resulting in shorter product lifecycles. As a result, in recent years, the management and control of electronic waste have been a cause of concern, as it has a detrimental impact on the environment and the humans who deal with it.

Methodology: This doctrinal-analytical paper aims to analyse legislation enacted for the prevention and reuse of e-waste in India and the implementation of the International Convention regarding e-waste, along with the threat e-waste poses against the Sustainable Development goals set by the United Nations to protect the future.

Findings: One option for dealing with the hazard posed by informal ‘electronic waste’ disposal is to enact punishing restrictions that have a deterrent effect on society. As a result, various environmental rules and standards dealing with e-waste have been implemented in India, directly or indirectly. Because punitive measures in ecological laws dealing with electronic trash have not stopped environmental damage, such enactments have failed. By identifying the source of e-waste (polluters), accountability can be charged to them, which will lead to deterrence; moreover, adapting to a more ecologically efficient e-waste management method will also help reduce e-waste hazards.

The primary aim of this paper is to develop a reference model for measuring corporate sustainability that can be used by organizations to integrate sustainability measures into their current performance measurement system, helping them to embed sustainability into daily activities and to forge a sustainability culture. A secondary intent is to present a critical analysis of some well‐known sustainability measurement initiatives, showing their strengths and shortcomings.

The approach employed to develop the reference model described in this paper is a qualitative analysis of the complementarity, shortcomings and strengths of eight well‐known sustainability measurement initiatives alongside an extant corporate sustainability literature review.

The research carried out has found that there is not a single initiative analyzed that tackles all sustainability issues and in fact there is no consensus around what should be measured and how. The main divergences are related to the following aspects: different criteria are applied by the initiatives to classify issues between dimensions; same impacts are evaluated at different levels of a cause‐effect relationship continuum by the same initiative; disagreement about the groups of stakeholders a company should engage and assessing the company impacts that should be taken into account (direct only or those of its whole value chain). Moreover, the way in which most initiatives measure sustainability performance is not the most adequate to embed it into the performance measurement systems, since they evaluate sustainability via presence of management practice and employ absolute values indicators rather than result‐oriented measures and ratio indicators that are more adequate for internal decision making. In this context, a sustainability measurement model was developed that is more comprehensive, objective and value‐oriented, constituting an attempt to shed light on these problems.

The major limitation is the fact that the proposed model does not provide any guidance to select the sustainability key issues for an organization to be integrated into its current performance measurement system. It mainly provides a very comprehensive set of sustainability issues and measures that could be used.

This paper sheds light on some sustainability measurement current challenges – lack of consensus of what should be measured and how – and sustainability embedment into daily activities. Academics will find it useful in their research efforts since it presents a broad review of sustainability concepts as well as an analysis of strengths and shortcomings of all and each sustainability initiative focused. Practitioners will also find it useful as a tool to better understand the sustainability concept, to start measuring sustainability performance, to integrate it in, as well as to evaluate, their current performance measurement systems.

The “Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer” obliges industrial countries to reimburse developing countries ‐ through new and additional resources ‐ all agreed incremental costs incurred by them in their efforts to save the ozone layer. To this end, a multilateral fund was established in 1990. The fund’s decision‐making procedures grant developing countries the same voting powers as industrial countries ‐ an almost revolutionary precedent in North‐South relations. In this article, the work of the Multilateral Ozone Fund is being analysed, with special emphasis on the development and implementation of the notion of “all agreed incremental costs” between industrial and developing countries. Since comparable institutional settings have been stipulated in the more recent treaties on climate change and biological diversity, in the concluding section five “lessons” are drawn from ozone politics for other international environmental agreements, in particular the emerging climate regime.

The research is geared towards studying the impact of “GDP per capita (GDP)”, “energy consumption (EC)”, “human capital (HC)” and “trade openness (TO)” on India's ecological footprint (EF) from 1997–1998 to 2019–2020.

The autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) bound test was used to look at the short-run and long-term coefficients and the cointegration of the variables.

The results depicted a long-run connection between the variables. The long-run results found a favourable relationship between GDP, EC and EF, indicating that economic growth through heavy reliance on fossil fuels contributes to environmental unsustainability. An inverse relationship between HC, TO and EF was also observed, indicating that education fosters pro-environmental behaviour and leads to adopting cleaner technology that contributes to environmental sustainability.

The research substantiates India's pressing requirement for sustainable development, ensuring a harmonious balance between economic performance and environmental preservation. A carefully designed policy needs to be formulated to mitigate emissions stemming from growth in India. Policymakers are urged to implement measures that promote ecologically friendly tools, utilities and transportation to curb long-term environmental degradation.

The study is novel, incorporating an exhaustive review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). This study further examines how India's EF is affected by its HC; the preceding literature has yet to discuss much about the connection between HC and the environment. Finally, the study employed advanced econometric techniques, namely the cointegration technique and ARDL model, to find the relationship between EF, GDP, HC, EC and TO.

The worldwide production and the consumption of CFCs are now controlled through the Montreal Protocol. A meeting in London in June 1990 of the signatories of the Protocol will almost certainly tighten the controls on CFCs and introduce regulations to control other common chlorinated solvents. This paper gives the reasons why worldwide control of emissions of chlorinated substances is necessary, the events that led up to the present controls and the prognosis for future regulations. The properties and uses of the six key chlorinated solvents are discussed. Each industrial solvent‐using sector has a range of options available to implement cutbacks and eventual elimination of chlorinated solvents.