The recovery of the ozone layer, which protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays, is on the right track, according to a new report by a group of 300 scientists, although it is also recognized that there are still many challenges produced by the rapid increase of the gases that cause the greenhouse effect.
According to the text, presented by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the ozone layer “is heading towards its total restoration in the coming decades , as a result of the action international”.
Experts emphasize that these advances are mainly due to international concerted measures to protect the environment, especially the Montreal Protocol of 1989, without which it is estimated that the concentration of gases that destroy this delicate layer would have increased tenfold. facing the year 2050.
According to UNEP, this Protocol has prevented some two million people from having skin cancer annually in the world, reducing eye injuries and various damages to the human immune system. Likewise, wild flora and fauna will also benefit from these measures.
The executive director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), Achim Steiner, explained that the report aims to “present a scenario of achievements, challenges and hope. Achievements, those achieved with the Protocol; challenges, in terms of the need to maintain global attention and commitment on ozone-depleting substances; and a message of hope , that if we convince ourselves that acting on these substances is for the benefit of nations and individuals, there is tremendous potential to move forward “, has affirmed.
The study, carried out by 300 international experts, is a scientific evaluation on the reduction of the ozone layer, in 2014, aimed at politicians in charge of environmental issues. This document is the first comprehensive evaluation in the last four years on this topic. The UN agencies have urged the States that will participate in the next Climate Summit, on September 23 in New York (USA), to take as an example global cooperation to protect common interests, as required by the Protocol from Montreal.
