“The 2011 International Year of Chemistry (IYC) Symposium on Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Change”, sponsored by American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, and American Meteorological Society, has been convened in WASHINGTON, D.C. Nov. 7‐10. 

The opening session was hosted by Robert T. Watson, Chief Scientific Adviser of Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom and former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Mario J. Molina, 1995 Nobel laureate in Chemistry; Nancy Jackson, president, American Chemical Society; Michael McPhaden, president of the American Geophysical Union; Jonathan Malay, president of the American Meteorological Society; and Michael Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, gave their statements on environmental protection and climate change.

The symposium featured a video presentation from George Bush, 41st President of the United States, and Keynote speakers include Ralph Cicerone, president of National Academy of Sciences; William K. Reilly, former EPA Administrator under the George H.W. Bush administration. More than 100 people, including the famous scientist, such as members of National Academy of Sciences, cabinet members of former President George H.W. Bush administration, as well as the representatives from the developing countries attended the symposium. Professor Shuanglin Li of Nansen-Zhu Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited to participate.

This event reviewed the outcomes of the ozone layer's subsequent stabilization and initial recovery since the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international treaty to reduce ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere, discussedthe prospect of further recovery, and summed up the successful collaborations of international communityin the protection of stratospheric ozone layer. The meeting focused onthe overwhelming challenge of climate change, concerning the currentdisagreement among scientific community, public and policy makers, it was discussed that it might help to address this issue through learning useful lessons offered by the successful collaborations in the protection of stratospheric ozone layer, and so on. The symposium was of far-reaching importance in addressing the challenges of climate change at the national level of the United States.