It is an honor to be here today to celebrate International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The purpose of the day is to reflect on our efforts as a nation to deal with the threat of ozone depletion and reminds us of the important role our environment plays in determining our quality of life.
Most importantly we devote today to educating our communities about the ozone layer, why it is important to protect it, why it should concern our communities and what we can do as communities and individuals to contribute towards its protection.
Ozone constitutes a very small part of our atmosphere, but its presence is vital to human well-being. The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth byabsorbing the sun's ultra violet radiation (UV), which will be harmful to us if it reaches the earth surface. With more UV radiation reaching the earth surface due to ozone depletion, human health and the environment will be adversely affected. The most significant effects will be the increased incidence of skin cancer, eye cataracts, damage to the human immune system and to the ecology of the earth.
The question we must ask ourselves is: What causes the depletion of the ozone layer?
Ozone depletion is caused by ozone depleting chemicals. They are man-made chemicals that are used in everyday appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers, in dry cleaning, as solvents for cleaning, electronic equipment and as agricultural fumigants.These chemicals drift up into the stratosphere and become involved in chlorine-releasing reactions. The chlorine atoms react with the ozone molecules and destroy the ozone molecules.
The continuous destruction of ozone molecules then creates a hole in the ozone layer, which allows for the penetration of harmful radiation from the sun to reach the earth with all its harmful consequences for the environment and humans.
Our failure to address the depletion of the ozone layer could have severe consequences.
A world without the ozone layer will result in the earth warming up. If the earth warms up, it will result in the melting of the huge icebergs found in our polar areas. The amount of water produced through the melting of iceberg will in turn cause sea levels to rise dramatically, which could result in low-lying coastal areas being over run by floods. Alternatively the heating up of the earth could result in severe droughts and food scarcity.
The above is indeed a very scary scenario but it is what can happen if we do not address the further depletion of the ozone layer.
South Africans are not alone in the fight to restore our ozone layer. Our efforts are part of a global struggle under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The Protocol requires the phasing out of the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) in accordance with agreed schedules.
The Montreal Protocol is widely regarded as a success story both in terms of achieving its direct aims in ODS phase-out targets and the resultant curbs in ozone depletion, and consequent environmental and health benefits. In our endevours to meet the obligations of the Montreal Protocol, South Africa has developed regulations to phase-out and manage ozone depleting substances. Measures are put in place to monitor and control the imports and exports of ODSs in the country. Our government is actively involved in activities locally and internationally that aim to protect the ozone layer and ultimately human health and environment.
Chemicals management in South Africa requires a combined effort between government and industry in order to effectively introduce environmentally friendly alternatives, i.e. non- ozone depleting substances. Other alternatives are readily available for our South African industries, hence the Department of Environmental Affairs engages with the relevant Stakeholders on a quarterly basis and when the need arises.
This is to ensure both government and industry readiness and furthermore, to keep Stakeholders informed of new developments around the relevant sectors from both a global and national perspective. The measures put in place by the Department are intended to ensure that the chemicals industry contributes positively to the South African economy in a sustainable manner.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS), an important entity of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), is the focal point of ozone monitoring and research activities in South Africa. SAWS activities are enhanced by international collaboration with a few national centres and universities. The ozone monitoring and research program is conducted within the context of the World Meteorological Organisations (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) program. This is conducted at the Cape Point Global Atmosphere Watch (CPT GAW) station, which also undertakes a regional network of observations. The CPT GAW station is mandated to measure several climatically significant trace gases on a long-term basis as part of a global network of around 33 stations.
The Weather Service also conducts balloon soundings to measure the ozone concentration throughout the atmosphere.
The SAWS also maintains a Ultraviolet monitoring network, for raising public awareness about the sun’s harmful UV rays. This network is not sufficient to detect whether we are receiving more UV radiation at ground level due to an ozone layer that has diminished. South Africa is one of the highest UV probed countries in the world due to its location and high inland elevation. Even without any ozone depletion or not, all South Africans should take care during outdoor activities when people are exposed to our extremely sunny and hot weather conditions.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are some practical things that you as individuals can do to help protect the ozone layer:
Make sure that old refrigerators and air conditioners are disposed of safely by giving them to a recycling yard. Take care not to damage the cooling circuit which contains the ODS;
Ensure technicians repairing your refrigerator or air conditioner recover and recycle the old ODS so they are not released into the atmosphere;
When renovating your house, make sure that old insulation foams containing ODS are disposed of as environmentally hazardous waste;
Inform yourself about ozone depletion through further reading, and suggest activities in your community to increase awareness of the problem and initiate local action.
Programme Director, our interventions to protect the ozone layer is part of a broader suite of laws that aim to give effect to the Constitutional right of our people to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being; and to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonalbe measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
Over the past two decades we have made significant strides in realising this constitutional right although many challenges remain. As the DEA we will continue to mobilise society to work together to find solutions to the many environmental challenges by empowering them with information they need to contribute to the protection of our environment.
We will continue to build capacity among ordinary citizens including absorbing young people and women into economic activities that benefits the environment through our Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programme.
Our EPIP programme identifies, plans and implements projects under the Expanded Public Works Programme through the use of labour intensive methods targeting the unemployed, youth, women and people with disabilities. It also empowers small, medium and micro enterprises during the implementation of projects.
The EPIP provides a window of opportunity to the unemployed, youth and women and I want to encourage them to get more information on this and other job creation and skills development programmes of government so that they can benefit from these government interventions.
It am pleased to see so many young people being involved in todays activities. The youth of today are tomorrow’s leaders. It is important that we acellerate efforts to win over new generations of youth and nurture them into responsible citizens and active participants in sustainable development.
I want to conclude by thanking everone who took time out to participate in todays event. I trust that you have been able to gain new knowledge and a better understanding of the importance of our ozone layer and that you will be able to share this information with others so that more people can beome involved in efforts to preserve our ozone layer.
I thank you.
