The Time for a Global Plastics Treaty Is Now
By the time world leaders gathered in Montreal in September 1987 to discuss the depletion of the ozone layer, the science was clear. The threats of the growing ozone hole over the Arctic, discovered just 13 years earlier, wouldn’t be limited to a bad sunburn. Something had to be done—and fast.
The Montreal Protocol—which phases out the production and use of nearly 100 man-made chemicals proven to deplete the ozone layer, such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons—has since been heralded as a model of successful international environmental policy. Since its ratification, the parties to the treaty have phased out 98 percent of ozone-depleting substances compared with 1990 levels; the ozone layer is projected to recover as soon as 2050.… Seguir leyendo »