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OzonAction

Each year, the United Nations Secretariat issues an assessment of progress to date. The 2008 report indicates that at this mid-point towards the 2015 target, some key successes can be seen, including the continuing achievement of the global Montreal Protocol community in eliminating ozone-depleting substances. It also highlights how the accelerated phase out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) under this agreement provides a dual benefit to both ozone protection and climate change.

An accelerated phase out of HCFCs provides a unique and convenient opportunity for the world community to address climate change and ozone layer depletion. The UNEP OzonAction Strategy is to enable 145 developing countries to avail this extraordinary opportunity. Angela Cropper, UNEP Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Assistant Secretary General, describes, “Last September in the treaty’s birthplace, and at the conclusion of a session stretching late into the night, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol took a remarkable decision: namely to accelerate the freeze and the phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs). It was a decision not just in favour of the repair of the ozone layer, but also, and perhaps more significantly, in favour of combating climate change as a result of new and emerging science that underlines these substances’ potent greenhouse effect. Now, in the dawn of what many have likened to a “second” Montreal Protocol, the same Parties have the opportunity to help set the scene for a fresh round of climate change talks, scheduled for conclusion at the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late 2009.”
 
The problem of depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer has been in focus since the 1970s when Sweden along with USA, Canada and Norway banned the use of CFCs in aerosol applications. However, despite awareness of the detrimental effect of CFCs, global CFC consumption continued to increase. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was signed and since then, additional ODS have been regulated by amendments and adjustments to the Protocol. As a result, the achievements of the Montreal Protocol over its 20 year history in phasing out the production and consumption of ODS are well known…

Successful ODS Phase-out in Sweden
Sweden pioneered regulation of ODS by proposing an ambitious phase-out programme for the domestic market. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) implemented the programme in close co-operation with the industry. A harmful group of ODS have been removed from widespread use in Sweden without the need to close companies.

China Assesses the Challenge of HCFC Phase-out
In the past five years, HCFC production and consumption in China have increased rapidly. Due to this fact, China expects to reduce HCFC growth from 9 per cent to 4 per cent through making policy interventions, undertaking public awareness campaigns, and implementing demonstration projects. The Government believes that these measures will result in avoidance of an increase of 90,000 MT of HCFC consumption before 2013 and the freeze target and the 10 per cent reduction target in 2015 will become easier to meet. Furthermore, China is considering prioritizing the HCFC phaseout in the XPS foam sector because of the availability of alternatives and the high ODP value of HCFC-141b.

UNIDO’s efforts related to the phasing out of HCFCs
Since the inception of the Multilateral Fund, UNIDO has been an active Implementing Agency in providing assistance to Article 5 Parties to meet their ODS phase-out targets through the development and implementation of phase-out plans and projects. Furthermore, taking advantage of its comparatively strong standing in the industrial sector, UNIDO was among the leaders in adopting long-term, environmental ODS substitutions in the foam and refrigeration sectors. In the HCFC era, the strategic objective for UNIDO is to continue assisting Article 5 countries in meeting their obligations in a sustainable manner.

Future perspectives
The efforts and ingenuity of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol have, over 20 years, translated scientific realities into political decisions leading to concrete action on the ground. As a result, success with the Montreal Protocol and other near-term mitigation strategies are essential to buy the international community time to negotiate, ratify, and implement a post-2012 climate treaty, and time to replace existing high-carbon technologies with new low-carbon technologies and otherwise undertake the changes necessary to achieve our mid- and long-term climate goals.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Sidi Menad SI AHMED, UNIDO
Director, Montreal Protocol Branch