In 1985, scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. The shield that protects every living thing on earth from ultraviolet radiation was disintegrating. The cause: chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, found in refrigerators, air conditioners, and aerosol cans in virtually every home and business on the planet. The industries that made them were enormous. The economics of replacing them seemed impossible.
Two years later, every nation on earth signed the Montreal Protocol. Every single one. It remains the only treaty in United Nations history to achieve universal ratification. Countries that couldn't agree on anything else agreed on this: the chemicals had to go. Rich nations funded the transition for poor ones. Corporations that had spent years denying the science pivoted to developing alternatives. It wasn't seamless. It wasn't cheap. But it happened.
The ozone layer is now healing. Scientists estimate it will fully recover by the middle of this century. The Montreal Protocol has also prevented an estimated two million cases of skin cancer every year. It quietly became the most successful environmental agreement in human history.
When 197 countries looked at the same data and reached the same conclusion, they proved something most people still don't believe is possible. Everyone can agree. If the evidence is clear enough and the stakes are high enough, everyone can agree.
"Perhaps the reason the Universe gave you a broken world is so that you could have a chance to fix it."