International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer: Everyone is acquainted with the 'Ozone Layer' since their student days, the shield in the Earth's stratosphere absorbing most of the ultraviolet rays of the Sun. Well, September 16 has been designated as the International Day for the Preservation of Ozone Layer by the UNO.

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World Ozone Day 2021: Theme

The ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas protecting the Earth from the harmful portion of the Sun rays. This helps in preserving the life on this planet. According to the UN website, the theme for World Ozone Day 2021 is Montreal Protocol - keeping us, our food and vaccines cool.

The Montreal Protocol started life as a global agreement to protect the ozone layer. It has been a job done well, making it one of the most successful environmental agreements to date. A united global effort to phase out ozone-depleting substances means that today, the hole in the ozone layer is healing and in turn is protecting human health, economies and ecosystems. However, this year's World Ozone Day theme seeks to highlight certain other important aspects. It focuses to highlight on slowing climate change and helping to boost energy efficiency in the cooling sector, which contributes to food security.

World Ozone Day: Background and Significance

The official UN website states that a number of commonly used chemicals have been found to be extremely damaging to the ozone layer. In that respect, Halocarbons are chemicals in which one or more carbon atoms are linked to one or more halogen atoms (fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine). Halocarbons containing bromine usually have much higher ozone-depleting potential (ODP) than those containing chlorine. Furthermore,  man-made chemicals that have provided most of the chlorine and bromine for ozone depletion are methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and families of chemicals known as halons, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).

It has to be noted that the scientific confirmation of the depletion of the ozone layer prompted the international community to establish a mechanism for cooperation to take action to protect the ozone layer. This was formalized in the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, which was adopted and signed by 28 countries, on March 22, 1985. In September 1987, this led to the drafting of The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Implementation and universal ratification of Montreal Protocol

As per the official UN website, on September 16, 2009, the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol became the first treaties in the history of the United Nations to achieve universal ratification.

The Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer reached an agreement at their 28th Meeting of the Parties on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda to phase-down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).