Durwood Zaelke and the Ozone Keepers

Remember the seventies? Remember feathered hair, pull-tab soda cans, debates about the thinning ozone layer? Our guest this week on Sea Change Radio is Durwood Zaelke, a policy advocate and environmental crusader who started working four decades ago to advance policy that would help preserve the ozone layer. Zaelke is the founder and President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) based in Washington, DC and Geneva. He’s a noted international environmental lawyer who received both an Ozone Protection Award and a Climate Protection Award in 2008 for his help in maximizing the climate benefits of the Montreal Protocol.

Now, thanks largely to Zaelke and his organization, debates about the ozone layer are nearly as anachronistic as pull-tab cans and feathered hair. Nearly. Zaelke is still working on ozone protection, and, in line with the times, his organization’s mission has broadened to include combating climate change. Stay tuned as Zaelke and host Alex Wise discuss in detail how the Montreal Protocol succeeded in making inroads to protect the ozone from hydrofluorocarbon pollutants, where the Kyoto Protocol has fallen short, and what needs to happen to make the next international climate change negotiations more productive.