Opinion

September 16 is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

On December 19 1994, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed September 16 the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

To mark the day, also known as World Ozone Day, every year the theme for the day is set to accordingly organize and hold different events for the preservation of the ozone layer on a global scale, as part of the efforts to raise public awareness of the importance of ozone layer preservation and the measures for preventing its reduction.

The theme of this year’s World Ozone Day is “Montreal Protocol: fixing the ozone layer and reducing climate change”.

On the occasion of the day, it might be necessary to remember how the Montreal Protocol could check ozone layer depletion, one of the biggest threats facing humanity. When the world confirmed that ozone depleting substances used as aerosol and coolant were making a hole in the ozone layer of the sky, the international community launched global cooperation in order to deal with the issue and thus started to phase out such substances.

The phaseout of the substances and measures to reduce relevant substances were not only greatly helpful in preserving the ozone layer and protecting the future of the Earth but also immensely conducive to global efforts to address climate change. In particular, it made a great contribution to protecting human health and ecosystems by restricting the access of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays to the Earth. Now the ozone layer is healing, making it possible to protect humanity from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Our country joined the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1995, and afterwards signed the Kigali Amendment on September 15 2017.

It has fulfilled its duty as a signatory to the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol, conducting various activities to that end.

It supplemented the law on the protection of environment and the law on customs with some articles on banning the production, consumption and shipment of ozone depleting substances and organized workshops for staff members of the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection and customs officers to make them forbid the production, consumption and shipment of ozone depleting substances and control illegal trade in and use of them in conformity with international regulations and procedures.

In accordance with an international strategy for reducing ozone depleting substances, it mapped out a national plan to remove such substances and carried it out according to the timetable.

After working out a plan for controlling refrigerants, it eliminated the processes used for soil fumigation and has applied biological methods for exterminating harmful insects.

Our country will continue to fulfil its international responsibility and duty related to the above mentioned agreements.

The Nature Conservation Union of Korea prepares different kinds of materials for information according to the theme of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer every year and disseminates them through the media, helping raise public awareness for the preservation of the ozone layer.