HFCs finally on the Montreal Protocol agenda

Yesterday in Dubai the 197 Parties to the Montreal Protocol began formal discussions for the first time to amend the 27-year-old multilateral environmental agreement to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the list of controlled substances. A mandate to create a contact group to do this was approved on Friday evening.  The Montreal Protocol,  is one of the most successful environmental conventions, which helped phase out ozone depleting substances  and repair the ozone layer. These discussions are being held at the 27th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP-27) from November 1 to 5, 2015 and will look at ensuring that ozone depleting substances are not replaced with substances like HFCs, which have high global warming potential.

Partners in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) will showcase how countries have started to explore how to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).  CCAC supports the development of HFC inventories and studies, information exchange on policy and technical issues, demonstration projects to validate and promote climate-friendly alternatives and technologies, and various capacity-building activities to disseminate information on emerging technologies and practices to minimize HFC leakages and transition away from high-GWP HFCs.

Today at 13:30, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme will present and discuss results, challenges, and lessons learnt from initial surveys of HFC consumption in Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia and Nigeria.

The process to add HFCs to the convention began in 2009 when the Federated States of Micronesia and Mauritius submitted an amendment proposal to phase down HFC to the 29th Open-ended Working Group Meeting of Montreal Protocol. Six years later there are now four amendment proposals submitted to MOP-27 by the following countries: 1) Canada, Mexico and the United States of America; 2) India; 3) EU and member states; and 4) Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, and Solomon Islands. The new contact group’s mandate is to first discuss the challenges of managing HFCs followed by the four amendment proposals.

HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that have been used as alternatives to ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in various applications such as refrigeration, air-conditioning, foam blowing, and fire extinguishing sectors. HFCs have been known to be safe to the ozone layer, but a recent NASA study revealed that they also contribute to ozone depletion by a small but measurable amount.

HFCs in the atmosphere are increasing rapidly, at a rate of about 10-15% per year. Growth in production and consumption is also expected as countries develop and urbanize. Without action on HFCs, it is estimated that these gases will amount to 9-19% of total CO₂ emissions by 2050.

MOP-27 was opened in Dubai by His Excellency Rashid Ahmed Mohammed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, United Arab Emirates, who stressed the importance of the Montreal Protocol and its success in addressing ozone depleting substances over the last few decades.

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CONTACT
Tiy Chung, CCAC Communications Officer: Tiy.Chung [at] unep.org, +33 1 44 37 14 21.