Upgrading ozone layer treaty to assist in combating climate change key issue at international meeting in EgyptAccelerating the contribution of a treaty to protect the ozone layer towards meeting the climate change challenge will take place at the 21st Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in the Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib, Egypt, from 4-8 November.
Representatives from over 190 countries attending the international conference will assess whether a group of synthetic gases known as hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) might be better controlled under the Montreal Protocol rather than the Kyoto Protocol, the climate change treaty.
The Montreal Protocol is the treaty established to phase-out chemicals that damage the stratospheric ozone layer, the protective shield that filters out harmful levels of the sun’s ultra violet rays.
Scientists estimate that if HFCs become the replacement chemicals of choice for another group of ozone-depleting substances, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), in refrigeration, mobile air conditioning units and foams over the coming decades, their contribution to global warming could rise sharply. Indeed, under one scenario, HFCs could by 2050 be contributing the equivalent of 45 per cent of CO2 emissions.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said, “The Montreal Protocol is without doubt one of the most successful multilateral environmental agreements. That success is underlined by the fact that for the first time in history, all countries in the world will be represented in Egypt as a result of the Montreal Protocol achieving universal ratification in 2009.”
“This universal support reflects not only the Montreal Protocol’s success in phasing out over 97 per cent of the controlled substances that damage the ozone layer, but an understanding that this phase-out has also contributed in sparing the planet a significant level of global warming,” he added.
The meeting will have before them two amendments to bring these replacement chemicals under the ozone agreements. The first proposal is from Mauritius and the Federated States of Micronesia, and the second one from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Marco González, Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat said, “The 21 st Meeting of the Parties will address important issues for the protection of the ozone layer and related efforts to further contribute to mitigate climate change. The sound environmental management of existing banks of ozone depleting substances as well as the proposed amendments to address HFCs under the Montreal Protocol are clear signals of the Parties’ new initiatives to address both issues.”
Mr. Steiner noted that the increased use of HFCs as replacement chemicals now represent a new challenge in terms of climate change. He added, “I look forward to a full and frank discussion on what countries consider the next steps and the best way forward to address these high global-warming potential gases. Port Ghalib must send a clear signal that nations are determined to rapidly find not only ozone-friendly but also climate friendly alternatives and to assist developing economies in accessing these.”
These discussions on the proposals come some four weeks before nations gather in the Danish capital city of Copenhagen for the crucial UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) talks.