To learn more about the upcoming Special Edition of Satya and Call for Submissions, click here.

June 1997 Learning from the Ozone Experience By Hilary M. French

On September 16, 1987, negotiators meeting in Montreal finalized a landmark in international environmental diplomacy: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. The treaty mandated far-reaching restrictions in the use of certain chemicals that damage the ozone layer - the thin, vital veil in the stratosphere 10 to 50 kilometers above the earth's surface that protects the earth and its inhabitants from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Scientists projected that without cooperative international action, the ozone layer would be seriously depleted for decades to come. The resulting intense radiation could have grave consequences for human and ecological health - including millions of additional skin cancer cases worldwide, sharply diminished agricultural yields, and extensive damage to aquatic life.

The successful conclusion of the negotiations in Montreal was widely hailed at the time as an historic event, as the protocol was the most ambitious attempt ever to combat environmental degradation on a global scale. Governments from poor countries as well as rich, from the East as well as the West, were involved in the talks. The protocol they agreed on promised to have far-reaching effects for the multi-billion-dollar global industry that produced the offending chemicals, as well as for the many businesses and individuals who produced or used products dependent on them. It was signed on the spot by 24 nations and the European Community, and has since been ratified by more than 150 countries.

In the 10 years since that meeting in Montreal, the accord has set in motion myriad actions by national governments, international organizations, scientists, private enterprise and individual consumers. The results are clear: by 1995, global production of the most significant ozone-depleting substance (ODS) - the chlorine-containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - was down 76 percent from its peak in 1988. The world passed an important milestone at the beginning of 1996, when industrial countries had to stop producing and importing CFCs for domestic use, with the exception of a few "essential uses."

There is a substantial lag between the time when emissions begin to decline and the point at which the ozone layer begins to recover, as it takes years for CFCs and other ozone-depleting compounds to reach the stratosphere, and some last for centuries once there. Current estimates suggest that if all countries comply with the Montreal Protocol, the ozone shield will gradually begin to heal around the end of this decade, with a full recovery expected by about 2045. The world is thus currently suffering through the period in which the ozone layer will likely be most severely damaged. Some of the largest "ozone holes" on record have been experienced above the Antarctic over the last few years as a result, and ozone losses over mid- to high latitudes in both the northern and southern hemispheres have increased rapidly - as have levels of ultraviolet radiation over populated and agriculturally abundant corners of the earth such as Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom and Russia.

Hilary F. French is a member of staff at the WorldWatch Institute. For more information, contact: 1766 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036 or 202-296-7365. This article is reprinted with permission from the State of the World 1997.

Back

Next