The slogan of this years World Ozone Day, September 16, celebration was Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection.
When the scientists in the late 1970s discovered that man-made chemicals causes ozone layer depletion, and that such depletion can increase number of cases of skin cancer and cataracts, and damage plants, crops, and ecosystems, the global response was decisive. In 1985, the world’s governments adopted the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer so this year, we celebrate 35 years of the Vienna Convention and 35 years of global ozone layer protection. Under the Convention’s Montreal Protocol, governments, scientists and industry worked together to cut out 99 per cent of all ozone-depleting substances. Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is healing and expected to return to pre-1980 values by mid-century. In support of the Protocol, the Kigali Amendment was addopted, which came into force in 2019. Kigali amendment will enable reduction of use of hydrofluorocarbon (HFCs), greenhouse gases with powerful climate warming potential and damaging to the environment.
World Ozone Day, September 16, celebrates this achievement and the slogan, ‘Ozone for life’, reminds us that ozone is crucial for life on Earth, and that we must preserve the ozone layer for future generations.