International. The ozone layer is on its way to full recovery, and actions to achieve it, under the Montreal Protocol, represent a huge opportunity to reduce global warming and increase ambition in climate commitments, the World Meteorological Organization and UN Environment recently reported.
The concentration of substances harmful to the ozone layer continues to decrease, revealed the latest assessment made by the scientific panel of the Protocol and presented in Quito, thirty years after the historic global agreement that established measures to recover stratospheric ozone, a layer that protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays.
Ozone has recovered at a rate of 1-3 percent since 2000 and, at the current rate, the northern hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone are scheduled to heal completely in the 2030s, followed by the southern hemisphere in the 2050s and in the polar regions by 2060.
Chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances were used in aerosols, refrigeration systems and many other items. Three decades ago its excessive use was opening a hole in the ozone layer, so international action was taken.
The new forecasts are proof of the success of the environmental treaty reached in Montreal on 16 September 1987 as a party to the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
"The Montreal Protocol is one of the most successful multilateral agreements in history for a reason: its careful combination of science and collaborative action established to heal our ozone layer," said Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment.
Next year, the Protocol will be reinforced with the ratification of the Kigali Amendment, which requires countries to reduce projected production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by more than 80% over the next 30 years. The Amendment has so far been ratified by 58 parties.
Scientists say it is possible to avoid up to 0.5°C of global warming this century through the implementation of the Amendment, reaffirming its crucial importance in efforts to keep global temperature rise below 2°C, as set out in the Paris Agreement.
HFCs are polluting gases that accelerate global warming and climate change. They have been used in refrigerators, air conditioners and other similar items as a replacement for ozone-depleting substances, and although they account for about 1% of total greenhouse gases, their impact can be hundreds or thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Full compliance with the Amendment would reduce global warming caused by these gases by about 50% by 2050.
The findings provide a glimmer of hope, less than a month after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a special report outlining the devastating effects of a 2°C temperature rise.
Source: UN.
