Why has the effort to fight ozone depletion been so
successful?
(1) The connection between CFCs and
ozone destruction was made very clear by sound science.
(2) Once the ozone hole was discovered, the
chemical industry realized that some political action
to limit CFCs was probably inevitable, creating a strong
economic incentive to develop viable
alternatives to CFCs, which the chemical industry
did within a year or two.
(3) Equity issues between developed
and developing nations were recognized. The developing nations were asked to phase
out CFCs later than the wealthy countries, and a fund was
established by the wealthy countries to assist the
developing countries in converting from CFCs to less harmful
chemicals. This resulted in a truly global commitment to solving the
problem.