The Maldives parliament accepted the Bill on Protection of the Ozone Layer and submitted it to an interim committee for review Sunday. The Bill was accepted with 61 of the 65 members present voting in favour. Submitting the Bill to the parliament, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Faris Maumoon stated that the industrialisation of first world countries has impacted negatively on the global environment, with universally accepted effects such as climate change. MP Faris recalled that the Maldives had signed the Vienna Convention agreement (1986) to protect the ozone layer in 1988 and the Montreal Protocol (1987) in 1989 to reduce the amount of ozone-depleting chemicals, noting that the latter has been the most successfully implemented. The Montreal Protocol banned over 100 chemicals of which the Maldives banned importation of ozone-depleting substances in 2003. The Maldives had also banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in 2008, which the Montreal Protocol had restricted from use until the year 2010. The Maldives had also compiled a plan to halt the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCS) until the year 2020 after Montreal Protocol’s executive committee (ExCo) approved the banning of HCFCS until 2030. Montreal Protocol’s ExoCo had approved the Maldives’ action plan, added Faris. According to Faris, the Bill on Protection of the Ozone Layer was lobbied to facilitate government authority to minimise and stop the use and importation of ozone-depleting substances to the country, considering the dire need for a system of laws for the Maldives to act on ozone protection agreements the nation has signed and ratified. During the ensuing parliamentary debate, Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef stated that despite the Maldives being one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, the archipelago’s role in environmental damage is extremely small. He declared that the Maldives’ activities do not impact the environment negatively, whereas developed countries that are accountable for the release of greenhouse gases have not curbed their activities. Meanwhile, Nilandhoo MP Abdulla Khaleel asserted the importance of any Bill advocating for environment protection in light of the Maldives’ main trade of tourism being entirely dependent on the country’s resources of natural beauty. Khaleel added that protection of the environment is not a recent issue, and it has been tackled since former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s rise to power in 1978. Member of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Kulhudhuffushi-North MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa declared that MDP is in favour of the Bill. He stated that all the presidents of the nation had given priority to the duty of protecting the environment. Ghafoor also stressed the importance of exempting duty taxes from the importation of environmental friendly appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners following the banning of ozone-depleting substances. He added that the Maldives requires the capability of ensuring that banned substances are not being imported. Machangolhi-North MP Mariya Ahmed Didi probed the issue of raising awareness of the environmental dangers facing the nation among tourists and visitors in order to bring the Maldives’ delicate nature to the world’s attention. She cited the famous underwater cabinet meeting former president Mohamed Nasheed held as her case in point. Mariya also proposed corporate syndicates to establish return systems for plastic bottles, containers, bags and such, which are sold throughout the nation and are often discarded into the ocean or beaches, thus increasing damages to the environment.