The Department of the Environment and Energy marked World Ozone Day this week (16 September) by reporting on the success of the international agreement protecting the ozone layer.
The date for World Ozone Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The Department said the Montreal Protocol was an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of the main substances responsible for ozone depletion and, since the ratification of the Kigali Amendment, HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), that contribute to global warming.
The Department said that thanks to 30 years of individual and collective actions by the 198 Parties to the Montreal Protocol, 99 per cent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products had been phased out.
“The latest Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion completed in 2018 shows that parts of the ozone layer have recovered at a rate of one-to-three per cent per decade since 2000,” the Department said.
“At projected rates, the Southern Hemisphere will recover in the 2050s and Polar Regions by 2060.”
The Department said protection efforts for the ozone layer had contributed to the fight against climate change by averting an estimated 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from 1990 to 2010.
“It has also lead to fewer cases of skin cancer, cataracts, and immunodeficiency in communities across the world due to increased protection from UV radiation,” it said.
“Ozone protection measures have also preserved agricultural production and reduced risks to wildlife and ecosystems,” the Department said.