World Ozone Day

  • September 17, 2022
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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World Ozone Day

Subject : Environment

Concept:

  • World Ozone Day is celebrated on 16th September each year to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol that came into force on this day in 1987.
  • World Ozone Day is celebrated every year to spread awareness among people about the depletion of Ozone Layer and the measures taken and to be taken to preserve it.
  • The theme of World Ozone Day 2022 is “Montreal Protocol@35: global cooperation protecting life on earth”.

India’s achievements in Implementation of the Montreal Protocol

  • India phased out Chlorofluorocarbons, Carbon tetrachloride, Halons, Methyl Bromide and Methyl Chloroform for controlled uses as on 1 January 2010, in line with the Montreal Protocol schedule.
  • Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP)Stage – I has been successfully implemented from 2012 to 2016 and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP) Stage – II is under implementation since 2017 and will be completed by 2023.
  • The study on reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions through phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change estimates that the reduction of GHG emissions due to phase-out of ODS till 2022 is 465 million tonne C02 equivalent.
  • Implementation of actions emerging from India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) supplement efforts in adopting climate-friendly alternatives and promotion of energy efficiency during the implementation of HFC phase-out under the Kigali Amendment.

What is Ozone?

  • Ozone (composed of three atoms of oxygen) is a gas that occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and at ground level.
  • Ozone can be “good” or “bad” for your health and the environment, depending on its location in the atmosphere.
  • The ground-level or “bad” ozone is an air pollutant that is harmful to breathe and it damages crops, trees and other vegetation. It is a main ingredient of urban smog.
  • The stratosphere or “good” ozone layer extends upward from about 6 to 30 miles and protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
  • Ozone is produced naturally in the stratosphere. But this “good” ozone is gradually being destroyed by man-made chemicals referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS), including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), halons, methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform.

Global Initiatives to Curb Ozone Depletion

  • The 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was an international agreement in which United Nations members recognized the fundamental importance of preventing damage to the stratospheric ozone layer.
  • The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer and its succeeding amendments were subsequently negotiated to control the consumption and production of anthropogenic (ODSs) and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
    • The Protocol was signed by 197 parties in 1987 to control the use of ozone-depleting substances, mainly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
    • The Montreal Protocol mandated the complete phase-out of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances (ODS), which it has successfully managed to do in the last three decades.
    • CFCs were gradually replaced, first by HCFCs, or hydrochlorofluorocarbons, in some cases, and eventually by HFCs which have minimal impact on the ozone layer.
  • The adoption of the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase down the production and consumption of some HFCs and avoid much of the projected global increase and associated climate change.

Hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs

  • They are a family of chemicals used extensively in the air-conditioning, refrigeration and furnishing foam industry.
  • HFCs are known to be much worse than carbon dioxide in causing global warming.
  • In fact, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the average global warming potential of 22 of the most used HFCs is about 2,500 times that of carbon dioxide.
  • United States and China are the world’s top producers and consumers of HFCs.
  • India has successfully achieved the complete phase out of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-141 b, which is a chemical used by foam manufacturing enterprises and one of the most potent ozone depleting chemical after Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). (HCFC)-141 b is used mainly as a blowing agent in the production of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams.

“Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32”

  • Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of “Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32” from China.
  • R32 is a refrigerant used in small split air conditioning systems.
  • This definitive antidumping duty would be valid for five years.
Environment World Ozone Day