/ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2/ JAPAN: Accused of being Culprit No. 2 in Ozone Depletion

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 16 1996 (IPS) - Japan is responsible for almost 15 per cent of the damage done to the ozone hole, according to a report by the international environmental group Greenpeace.

In a just published report titled “Whose Chlorine is it?”, Greenpeace estimates that Japanese industry and household energy consumption are responsible for 13 per cent of ozone depleting substances that include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

This is more than any other country except the United States, which accounts for 30 per cent of global production of ozone- depleting substances.

CFCs — a combination of chlorine, fluorine and carbon — can be used as propellants for aerosols, as cooling agents and in the manufacture of polystyrene foam that cause irreparable damage to the thin layer of ozone that surrounds the planet.

This ozone layer filters out the sun’s cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. Their atmospheric lifetime ranges from 55 to 1,700 years.

All production of CFCs has been banned in industrialised countries since the beginning of this year under the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

But activists complain that Japan has not taken steps to contain the use of CFC production geared for export to developing countries. The Montreal document allows 15 per cent of the CFC production level in 1986.

“It is up to each company to make its own target for phasing out CFCs in manufacture for the developing market,” said an official at the Japanese Environment Agency, in defence of the government policy.

Last September the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), reported that the seasonal ozone “hole” that opens up over the Antarctic at the end of winter, was the biggest in recorded history.

Scientists say the “hole” now extends 23,000,000 sq kms and with it increases the threat of skin cancers, crop damage and ecological harm due to additional ultra-violet radiation.

Yasuko Matsumoto, of Greenpeace Japan, says that Tokyo’s share in ozone damage is alarming and shows no signs of abating.

Although total Japanese CFC production has declined in keeping with the Montreal phase-out plan, what is worrying is the high level of HCFC, another ozone depleting substance permitted in Montreal, she explained.

HCFCs (hydrofluororochlorocarbons) are substances used as a substitute for CFCs. HCFCs are less damaging than CFCs but they are also greenhouse gases.