Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday stated that while the depleting ozone layer is recovering there should not be any laxity till it is fully controlled.
While addressing the World Ozone Day event held by the ministry, Choubey stated, "Today is the 27th world ozone day. The world is fighting against the pandemic. We are crawling toward normalcy. The depleting ozone layer is recovering. However, till it is fully controlled there should not be any laxity. It should be a combined effort by all."
With Montreal Protocol 'Keeping us, our food and vaccines cool' in place, the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change's ozone cell released India's success story on World Ozone Day.
With a high global warming potential, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs a type of synthetic greenhouse gas) mostly used in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment is a cause of worry.
"Being a signatory to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, India is currently implementing the second stage of HCFC phase our management plan (HPMP) as per the accelerated phase-out schedule of HCFCs," said RP Gupta, secretary, MOEFCC.
However, India cooling action plan (ICAP) 2019, a macro-level policy played an important role in reducing the emission of HFCs.
ICAP targets a 20 to 25 per cent reduction of cooling demand across sectors along with a reduction of cooling energy requirements by 25 to 40 per cent by 2037 to 2038.
The usage of harmful substances such as aerosols, chlorofluorocarbon, halons, etc., widely used for cooling and refrigeration purposes resulted in a hole in the ozone layers in Antarctica, first discovered in 1970, which led to acute global warming in the past 20 years.
The latest Montreal protocol, the Kigali agreement says that the countries are expected to reduce manufacture and use of HFCs by 80 to 85 per cent by 2045 from their respective baseline.
The agreement also brings non-ODS chemicals under the ambit of Montreal protocol.
The United Nations General Assembly designated September 16 as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. This designation had been made on December 19, 2000, in commemoration of the date, in 1987, on which nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The ozone layer is defined as 'a fragile shield of gas that protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet.'
Montreal Protocol commenced as a global agreement to protect the ozone layer.
The objective of the Montreal Protocol was to take measures to control total global production and consumption of substances that deplete the ozone layer, with the ultimate goal of 'their elimination on the basis of developments in scientific knowledge and technological information.
Depleting the ozone layer has an adverse impact on human health, agriculture, forestry, marine life.
( With inputs from ANI )
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