Annan calls for even greater efforts to protect world’s radiation-shielding ozone

With melanoma and other skin cancers killing 66,000 people each year, much of it due to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, and children being especially vulnerable, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for even greater global effort to save the world’s radiation-shielding ozone layer.

“While we may be gratified with the progress that has been made through international cooperation, we must not be satisfied until the preservation of the ozone layer is assured,” Mr. Annan said in a message marking the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. “Only then will we be able to say that we have saved our sky for future generations.”

He praised progress made under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, ratified by 184 countries, as “impressive,” with scientists reporting a decline in depletion and the first signs of recovery following efforts to eliminate destructive man-made chemicals.

“However, we cannot be complacent,” he warned. “The ozone layer remains depleted above the Antarctic and the Arctic, as well as in the midlatitudes of both hemispheres of the earth.

“The same scientists warn that the ozone layer will remain particularly vulnerable during the next decade or so. As we look to the future, even greater political commitment and further action is required to ensure full compliance with the Montreal Protocol by developed and developing countries alike,” he said.

Several challenges remained to be met, Mr. Annan added. Developing countries must phase out the use of many ozone depleting substances within specified time schedules; illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons must be curbed; alternatives to some current uses of methyl bromide must still be found; and more research is required on the relationship between depletion of the ozone layer and climate change.

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