EPA’s Stratospheric Ozone Multilateral Fund

The Stratospheric Ozone Multilateral Fund was established in 1991 to assist developing countries in meeting their Montreal Protocol commitments, which require industrialized and developing countries to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and other chemicals that damage the earth’s protective stratospheric ozone layer. This ozone layer shields people and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation, and this fund has been responsible for reductions in cancers and cataracts, as well as reduced crop damage and damage to phytoplankton, which are at the base of oceanic food chains. EPN created this Stratospheric Ozone Multilateral Fund fact sheet to explain the risks of over-exposure to UV radiation and how important this fund is to achieving recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.