IN BANGKOK
 
AT 28, Thai-American pop star Tata Young has already sold 12 million albums across Asia, and has performed at concerts from Japan to India. Her latest gig though, is free of charge and for the environment - specifically, the ozone layer.

The last time I met her was in 2004, when her song Sexy, Naughty, Bitchy was considered a bit too bold by the ministry of culture. She stood up to the pressure then, telling me ''I don't care what they think'' - and the song became a mega-hit, even playing at every Skytrain station in Bangkok.

I met her again very recently moments before a show in Bangkok - and again at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thaialand (FCCT) where she appeared to talk of her latest role as an ambassador for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

She was her usual frank and unpretentious self as I asked her about her new mission.

"The world right now is falling apart’’ she said. ‘’It’s important that people pay more attention to the world and the environment.''

PHOTOS: Nirmal Ghosh

This month, four public service announcements (PSAs) began screening in movie theatres in the Philippines. They will soon screen in Thailand and other countries in the region, in theatres and on some TV networks.  

The PSAs feature the unlikely combination of  Tata Young, Art of Living Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Japanese anime cat Doraemon, and the Beijing Olympics mascots.

Their message: to alert the public as the Montreal Protocol approaches a defining moment – the elimination by Jan 1, 2010 by developing countries, of all consumption and production of chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, one of the main destroyers of the ozone layer.  

The stratospheric ozone layer is Earth's invisible protective shield, a membrane filtering out ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Its depletion, triggered by chemicals such as CFCs – first noticed in the late 1970s – threatens the very basis of life on Earth.

The ozone hole was a big issue in the 1970s and 1980s. Momentum and memory tend to fade however, and UNEP is trying to inject new life into the issue.  

Ozone depleting substances (ODS) are mainly used in air conditioning and refrigeration applications, metered dose inhalers used by asthma patients, fire extinguishers, solvents and process agent applications, and a specific type of fumigation.  Phasing out CFCs, is something which touches the lives of tens of billlions,  usually without their ever knowing it.  

The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, is considered the most successful international agreement of its kind, assisting countries in progressively phasing out ODS.  The chemicals are also global warming gases, so the phase out delivers significant climate benefits.

The Protocol has succeeded because the gases it covers are measurable in terms of production and use, substitutes can be and have been developed – and developing countries are being given financial assistance by developed countries to phase them out.  

It is also not mired in the politics that has made the Kyoto Protocol at best an unsatisfactory mechanism with which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – and at worst a tragic failure. 

The ozone layer has stabilised. The phase out will theoretically restore it to its 1970s level. But many challenges remain, not least that of illegal trade in ODS, which remain cheaper than substitutes.  And as is often the case, the cure to the problem of ODS was only a lesser evil. CFCs were replaced with HCFCs – which also deplete the ozone layer but at a slower rate than CFCs.  

Increased HCFC consumption in the growing refrigeration & air conditioning and foam sector, is an emerging challenge. That is why a strategy to phase out HCFCs in 20-25 years is now being mapped out – and the public is being prodded to realize that the ozone problem has not gone away. 

Tata's new album is titled Temperature Rising. While the title track is more about hormones than hot air, it is encouraging to see a relatively new Asian star taking up an issue as arcane yet as critical as the ozone layer. Tata is not strong on technicalities, but her heart is in the right place.

''It’s important that people are aware of the little things you can do to protect our world, are aware (of ozone) and know what’s going on, especially because unlike garbage and other types of pollution, you can’t see the ozone layer’’ she said.