Global ozone day 2026: nations act for cooler planet
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Every year on September 16th, people around the world celebrate Global Ozone Day, commemorating the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. This international agreement aimed to ban substances that damage the ozone layer, and today every country has signed it.
The Montreal Protocol has been crucial in controlling the production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals, protecting people from harmful solar radiation.
Continuous monitoring of the ozone layer has helped assess the effectiveness of the Protocol and led to updates like the Kigali Amendment, signed in 2016 in Rwanda. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) chose the theme “Global action for a cooler planet” for the 39th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol in 2026. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the Kigali Amendment, which plans for a phased reduction in the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
HFCs were developed to replace the chemicals originally damaging the ozone layer. While HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer, they are powerful greenhouse gases contributing to climate change and global warming. Recent scientific assessments, including the 2022 report by the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP, estimate that implementing the Kigali Amendment could prevent a future temperature increase of 0.3 to 0.5°C by 2100.
The report also found that some remaining HFCs, HCFCs, and CFCs continue to contribute to planetary warming at a higher rate than expected. A new Ozone Assessment Report is expected to be published later this year. Academic Christos Zerefos noted that even with these agreements, some replacement substances need further attention, and people in sunny countries like Greece still need to protect themselves from solar radiation.
