The likely impact of EC law on ozone depleting substances on Malta

Abstract

The term pollution is very often mentioned but unfortunately very often misinterpreted. When one hears the word pollution the first thing that springs to mind is that of papers being thrown in the street or of domestic litter which one day will have to be separated before being dumped and other various 'misinterpretations'. Such observations are correct but the term pollution has a vast meaning which has to do with a very vast subject and which caters for practically all interactions between men and nature. Due to the vast representation of which this nine-letter word is responsible for a single definition is very difficult to reach. One aspect, which falls under the term pollution, is that of AIR POLLUTION; this is one of the major themes and is of utmost importance due to the very simple reason that air is the essential fuel for any form of life. This affects practically every living organism, from mankind to any little animal, which inhabits the earth. Unfortunately nature was not designed to cope with all the by-products of human life, especially throughout and after the Industrialisation process, which the world has and is still going through. In the past Volcanoes, forest fires and other natural occurring disasters would affect the atmosphere but these were coped with by means of natural process, which would restore the situation and would bring things back to normal. On the other hand there is no ecosystem, which was designed to cope with factors such as the constant coal burning of power stations, the introduction of poisonous men made chemicals into the atmosphere and other such factors. In order to tackle the subject of air pollution as a whole, a great deal of paper work and studies would have to be carried out, and this would probably result in the production of not only one book but that of a set the size of an encyclopaedia. Due to this reason in the next pages of this dissertation one branch of the subject will be tackled: The use of substances that deplete the Ozone Layer. In our days people are quite familiar with the fact that a gas called ozone is present in the upper atmosphere, and that this gas helps to keep most of the hazardous solar radiations away by means of acting as a filter. The affects of harmful solar radiations are quite clear to the public mainly due to the various campaigns, which warn people against skin cancer when sunbathing but sadly enough this is not the only effect! It was only approximately twenty years ago that scientists started to discover that certain chemicals produced by man and known as Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were crawling up into the upper atmosphere. Scientists started to realise that such chemicals were reacting with the ozone layer and depleting it. This led to a correct assumption that the production of CFCs and other ozone depleting substances had to be controlled in order to safeguard the environment present on earth. Therefore controls in the form of laws and regulations were to be implemented. The introduction of laws and regulations that control the use of Ozone Depleting Substances are of great importance in order to safeguard the whole of humanity. It was also important that the formation of such laws and their implementation had to take an international scale due to the fact that it would have been useless if one country controlled ODS whilst it's neighbouring states used such substances. Even Malta decided to adhere to such International standards. However due to the implementations of regulations that restrict the use of ODS various difficulties had to be solved. Alternatives had to be found, but most importantly the alternative methods had to be viable due to the fact that such substances are used in various industries. This meant that the various industrial sectors of the states adhering to the restriction on ODS were faced with situations that could not be easily tackled and which resulted in various economic implications. In the next chapters the Maltese situation as regards the use of ODS and the restrictions being made are to be focused on. Malta not only adhered to International Protocols and agreements but is also adopting the European Regulations due to accession that is to occur in the year 2004. The various changes and effects are to be analysed but also the uses of ODS should be discussed in order to understand the topic better.