Description

The Montreal Protocol: “Perhaps the single most successful international agreement”

The ozone concentration in higher altitudes protects life on earth from the damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. The ozone layer, especially above Antarctica, was rapidly diminishing until recently due to the use of Ozone- Depleting Substances (ODS). Thanks to the participation and commitment of nearly all countries (195 in 2011) in perhaps the “single most successful international agreement to date” (Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, on the Montreal Protocol), the consumption of ozone- depleting substances decreased by 93% from 1992 to 2009, and 98% since the Protocol’s establishment in 1987. Production and consumption of ozone- depleting substances still continues through the use of compounds such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which have a global warming potential 77 to 2 300 times higher than CO2 and are still to be phased out, as well as through limited and strictly-controlled essential use exemptions (e.g. for specific agricultural purposes) or illegal use. The ozone hole over the Antarctic is showing only slow progress of recovery. The amount of ozone, measured in Dobson Units, varies yearly due to different temperatures in the Antarctic, but shows a small, positive, increase (WMO/ UNEP 2010).

This graphic is part of the publication Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment.

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