A ray of hope for the ozone layer

Efforts to replace toxic chemicals with less harmful ones have begun to pay off

The earth’s protective ozone layer is recovering! In a UN-backed report released last week titled Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018 — which monitors the recovery of the ozone — has stated that the collaborative efforts of the signatory countries of the Montreal Protocol have helped heal the ozone layer, providing a ray of hope for climate change. These reports are carried out once every four years under the aforementioned protocol. If this commitment continues to be kept, the gaping hole in the Antarctic should disappear by the 2060s.

To begin with, the biggest cause of the depletion of ozone layer was the presence of various ozone-depleting substances (ODS) like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons which constitute the CFC-11 emissions, and were ultimately banned in 2010. Between then and now, the efforts to replace these chemicals with less harmful ones like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have begun to pay off. India and China are big users of HFCs due to their population. Finalised in 1987, the Montreal Protocol has been hailed as the one of the most successful and effective environmental treaties ever negotiated and implemented, aimed solely at preventing the depletion of the ozone layer and protecting humans from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

The beauty of treaties like this one is that the onus remains on the individual country while the environmental effects remain global, pushing countries to do their best to ensure compliance, a litmus test of each country’s commitment to climate change. We must ensure that our development goals are sustainable and do not hinder this movement. Our future depends on it.