Najib Saab, Cairo, 13 May 2007
In the midst of doomsday scenarios, we meet today to celebrate a success story. To many journalists, good news might not be as appealing as the warning superlatives which caught the headlines over the past decade or so: the warmest summer in history, the most devastating hurricane season in the United States, the driest spring in Europe. If we had active research centres and enough specialized journalists in the Arab world, we would have also read headlines such as the coldest winter in Saudi Arabia or the wettest spring in Lebanon.
But indigenous press needs indigenous science. Unfortunately, due to the weakness in scientific research, Arab press covers in detail stories about climate change and air pollution in China, while limiting local coverage of the same issues to fiction-like stories. This is not altogether surprising, as specialized press cannot function in a scientific vacuum.
Back to the good news. What makes Montreal Protocol significant? For the first time, a major global environmental issue has been identified through science, the urgency to solve it has been translated into policy, and goals have been set and implementation mechanisms have been put in place, with adequate resources, to meet the set goals. That's why we are here today, celebrating 20 years of Montreal Protocol progress. And we have real reason to celebrate, as the international community has succeeded this time in meeting the set goals. Not only are ozone depleting substances on their way to being eradicated, even before schedule: This also happened faster and more efficiently than originally planned. Substitutes were found, which triggered scientific innovation and created opportunities instead of hindering economic progress. The ultimate cost proved to be lower than what was originally estimated, and anyway this was made up for by vast social and environmental benefits. And, the essence of success was the clear political support and the synergy between developed and developing countries to make this Protocol work.
I won't go into details of Montreal protocol and the ozone depletion. We have with us today a group of the best scientists and policy makers who will talk about all aspects of this issue: those include visionaries who saw the threat and helped shape the global response, scientists who continued to monitor and provide solid grounds not only for the status but also for solutions, and executives who led the implementation process.
I would rather finish what I started with about our region.
It is indeed a great achievement that most Arab countries can claim a perfect record of compliance with the Montreal protocol, thanks, by and large, to the financial support of the Multilateral Fund. The fact is that compliance in the region can be generally attributed to the mechanism and intervention of the Multilateral Fund, rather than to genuine conviction. Unfortunately, the state of scientific research on environmental matters in the Arab region is far from adequate. After all, less than 0.2% of the region's GDP is spent on RD. Out of the bulk of research studies carried around the world on climate change, only 5 originated from the Arab region.
In many cases, the perception about the ozone issue is rather confused, even among so-called ‘specialists', let alone ordinary people. A poster produced by an Arab Ministry of Environment carried the slogan: ‘We all love ozone'. This happened during a year when ground ozone levels in that country were alarmingly high, due to inefficient combustion of fuel that did not meet the standards. Apparently the Ministry's officials were much fascinated by the ozone hole that they didn't realize the difference between the ozone in the stratosphere and that in the troposphere.
This insensitivity to local issues is countered by negligence, in many cases, of global issues and their local consequences. I have heard politicians from our region, and in some cases pseudo-scientists, telling international meetings that Arab countries should not be concerned with measures to tackle climate change, as the region does not contribute more than 3% of the global warming gases. How can they ignore the 100% effects of global warming on the fragile ecosystems of a region that has over 18,000 kilometers of populated coastline, and occupies some of the vastest deserts and arid lands on earth? And as our theme is ozone, believe me that when you, your wife or your child is diagnosed with skin cancer due to ozone depletion, it won't any more matter whether your country was responsible for less or more emissions.
Well, I am certain that this seminar will answer many questions of science and policy to bring the ozone question closer to the comprehension of the public and the decision makers alike. And, ultimately, to utilize the lessons learnt from the success of Montreal Protocol towards achieving similar achievements in other global challenges, such as global warming and desertification.
(Najib Saab was moderator of the Regional Seminar held in Cairo on 13 May 2007 by the Montreal Protocol Secretariat to celebrate its 20th Anniversay) |
