A ground breaking climate agreement that could save the future of this planet was reached yesterday morning in Kigali. The Kigali amendment of the Montreal Protocol was reached after days of haggling with some of the world’s worst polluters holding out for a better deal.Phasing out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that is used in air conditioning and refrigeration as soon as possible is crucial. It is the biggest culprit in depleting the ozone layer and increasing global warming. Many developed countries, in their race to industrialise, put the environment at the back of their minds, now the world is paying the price. Nearly 30 years after the ban of ozone depleting chemicals came into effect, putting it into action has been at a snail’s pace. But now the Kigali amendment is being acclaimed as an important milestone that we should take seriously. A study carried out then by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), had showed that phasing out the dangerous gases would reduce more than two million cases of skin cancer annually. But politicians and industrialists ignored the warning from scientists; it is only now that the extent of the damage has woken them up, is it too late?We should move beyond our current selfish interests and think of the future generation. Some of the damage already caused is irreversible. Increased global rise in temperatures is melting the glaciers at a frightening speed and some small islands have already been submerged by the rising ocean levels. Let this Kigali amendment act as a wakeup call that we are living on a precipice; it only needs one more human folly to kiss our planet goodbye.
