LET’S ALL UPHOLD MONTREAL PROTOCOL ON OZONE LAYER
Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer that is around our planet, sometimes affectionately referred to simply as Mother Earth.
The Day was so-proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994 in commemoration of the date of the signing on September 16, 1987 of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Briefly put, this is a layer of a high concentration of ozone at an altitude of around 10 kilometres in the Earth’s stratosphere, which absorbs up to 98 percent of all harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun. In a sense, the ozone layer also acts as the Earth’s thermostat, regulating the temperature by keeping our planet from overheating or freezing.
But, it must in all fairness be said here that ozone is itself also harmful to human beings, causing skin cancer and other equally adverse maladies.
And, while the ozone layer largely protects us from solar radiation, the fact that pell-mell urbanisation leading to increased global pollution which eventually results in increased ozone and its harmful effects.
It was largely for this reason that the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was conceived. The Protocol is an international treaty designed and intended to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of the substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.
The Protocol was also intended to protect earthlings from adverse health-related issues. Studies have shown that “nearly two million cases of skin cancer are prevented globally every year, thanks to the Montreal Protocol...” and that, “if all goes according to plan, the Earth could restore the Ozone Layer to its 1980s level by 2050”.
How heartening, we say.
We also hastily add that we of Mother Earth are but one and, as such, we all must work closely together in effectively upholding the Montreal Protocol for a bright future for the Ozone Layer and humanity in general.
QUALITY IS KEY TO AfCFTA
Last week, Tanzania took the bold step to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement for a 1.3-billion consumer market. This is, indeed, a welcome decision after almost three years of dilly-dallying on a pact which is as likely as not a boon for Tanzania in socioeconomic development terms.
Acceding to AfCFTA requires the government to come up with strategies and guidelines designed to ensure that Tanzania benefits from trading within the $3.4 trillion-GDP economic bloc. Certainly, competition will be cutthroat. But, with apt strategies and determination, we have all that it takes to hit the ground running – and get it done.
We applaud the government for realising the challenges that lie ahead – and has already started preparing a new National Quality Policy to ensure that Tanzania becomes competitive in the new bloc.
Ratifying the pact is a major milestone. But, it will take painstaking efforts to thrive in the market where some countries already have an advantage. The Industry and Trade ministry must diligently play its role, and our industrialists should not expect a walk in the park within AfCFT
