SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES CITIZENS TO BUY ONLY OZONE-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS

Press Release
SG/SM/6701
OBV/57

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES CITIZENS TO BUY ONLY OZONE-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS

Following is the text of the address given by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, 16 September 1998:

The depletion of the ozone layer -- the delicate, protective mantle that shields life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation -- was the first major global environmental issue to be tackled by the United Nations system. Nearly 24 years ago, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated efforts that culminated in two treaties that are now acknowledged as models for international cooperation to solve global environmental problems: the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987). Future historians may well view these treaties as the beginning of a global transition to sustainable development -- as moments when the international community summoned the political courage to alter the course of a potentially catastrophic aspect of its economic growth.

In the last 10 years, the production and consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals has been reduced by more than 80 per cent, largely due to the efforts of the industrialized countries, where the phase-out is nearly done. The amount of ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere peaked in 1994 and is now slowly declining. These are significant achievements. But the risk to tomorrow's health and well-being remains acute, and we face many challenges before we can be assured of success. The recovery of the ozone layer will begin in a few years and, owing to the long lifetime of the chemicals in the atmosphere, will take up to the year 2060 to complete. Developing countries, which have been given a grace period of 10 years, will begin their phase-out in 1999. The illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances has to be curbed, and the countries of eastern and central Europe will have to catch up and fulfil their obligations.

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Credit for the progress attained thus far must also go to the good sense of ordinary people, whose aspirations and hopes the Vienna and Montreal treaties have sought to articulate. Millions of people across the globe have perceived the incompatibility between the use of ozone-depleting substances and the replenishment of the ozone layer. That is why the theme of this year's International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is "For life on earth: Buy ozone-friendly". Indeed, the choices that each one of us makes will determine the health of the ozone layer. Every citizen can help by buying only ozone-friendly products. Such choices cannot only prod industries to switch to ozone-friendly technologies, but can also help reduce illegal trade and ensure that countries fulfil their obligations under the Protocol. Whoever we are, wherever we live, whatever we may do, we all have an important stake in the preservation of the ozone layer.

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