CFC bans make their impact felt
The Montreal Protocol for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted 23 years ago today. Recent research findings by European scientists show that the Protocol is taking effect and the ozone layer is gradually beginning to recover. Thanks to the worldwide protective measures, there has been a marked reduction in the risk of skin cancer and environmental damage due to aggressive UV radiation.
Federal Environment Minister Dr. Norbert Röttgen has this to say: "Twenty-three years ago an exemplary international environmental agreement was adopted in the form of the Montreal Protocol for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. An environmental agreement which has developed from limited rules for industrialised countries only into an extremely ambitious global environmental convention, and which has become a model for other environmental conventions. At the same time, the latest scientific findings about its effectiveness provide encouraging evidence that global environmental problems can be successfully addressed by joint efforts on the part of the worldwide community of states."
The background: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed on September 16, 1987. The United Nations designated this day the International Day of the Ozone Layer. The Protocol, together with the Vienna Convention on which it is based, is the first international convention ever to be valid in all UN states. It provides for phased discontinuation of substances that damage the ozone layer, through restrictions on the consumption and production of such substances. Since its entry into force, several decisions have been taken to increase the stringency of the relevant targets. The implementation of the binding phase-out requirements in the developing countries is supported by sound funding of specific conversion measures by a multilateral fund financed by the industrialised countries.
The binding phase-out regulations and the financial support have so far brought about a 97% reduction in the production and consumption of substances which deplete the ozone layer, in terms of ozone depletion potential. Scientific studies, e.g. by the Swiss Technical University in Zürich, have now confirmed the connection between these measures under the Montreal Protocol and positive changes in the ozone layer. The recovery is a slow process, however. For example, even the latest studies indicate that it will probably be another 10 to 15 years before the ozone hole over the South Pole, which forms every year in September, starts getting smaller. Scientists do not expect the ozone layer to be restored to its original level until the second half of this century. The increasing global warming is having an adverse effect on its regeneration.
Moreover, since substances that deplete the ozone layer also possess great greenhouse potential, the reduction measures under the Montreal Protocol bring about a marked reduction in worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. From a climate point of view, however, special attention must be devoted to the phasing-out of partially halogenated CFCs (H CFCs) which is required by the Protocol in the next few years, because the "F-gases" (fluorinated greenhouse gases) that are frequently used instead of H-CFCs themselves have a high greenhouse gas potential. There is therefore a need to push ahead with the use of climate-friendly alternatives. Through Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), which is funded from the proceeds of emissions trading, the Federal Environment Ministry is assisting a number of pilot projects with partner countries , to provide a graphic illustration of climate-friendly alternatives.
Environment Minister Dr. Röttgen: "The community of states must not throw away the climate benefits that result from phasing out the ozone-depleting substances, as would be the case if they replaced these substances with alternatives that were no longer harmful to the ozone layer, but still had adverse effects on the climate. We therefore need a solution to the F gases problem that takes advantage of the experience gained from phasing out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. That is why, in the forthcoming negotiations on the Montreal Protocol in Kampala and the climate negotiations in Cancun, I will be advocating solutions that ensure close links between measures to protect the ozone layer and measures to protect the climate. This is a unique opportunity for Germany, on the basis of experience gained from the Montreal Protocol, to establish and expand a pioneering role as a technology provider in this sector".