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.