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Developments under the SBSTA
During the 20th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 20) to the Montreal Protocol (Doha, Qatar, 16-18 November
2008), Parties adopted Decision XX/7 (Environmentally Sound Management of banks of ODS) and Decision
XX/8 (High global warming potential alternatives for ozone-depleting substances). These
decisions call for collaboration with the UNFCCC in the preparation of a series of reports,
sharing information, participation in two workshops on these topics and dissemination of its
outcomes.
At SBSTA 29 (December 2008), the SBSTA noted the above-mentioned decisions of the twentieth Meeting
of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The SBSTA
encouraged the secretariat to attend the related workshops, and Parties were encouraged to include
their climate experts as participants in the workshops ( FCCC/SBSTA/2008/13,
paragraphs 98-99).
The workshops took place during the 29th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the
Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (OEWG 30, July 2009).
- Workshop on the management and destruction of ozone-depleting substance banks and implications
for climate change (see related documents);
- Workshop for a dialogue on high-global warming potential alternatives for ozone-depleting
substances (see related documents).
At SBSTA 30 (June 2009), the SBSTA requested the secretariat to prepare, before SBSTA 32 (June 2010),
an information paper summarizing relevant cooperative activities with international organizations,
including the secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Ozone Secretariat).
The 21st Meeting of the Parties (MOP 21) to the Montreal Protocol took place from 4 to 6 November
2009 in Port Ghalib, Egypt. Parties adopted two relevant decisions:
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Decision XXI/2 (“Environmentally Sound Management of Banks of Ozone-Depleting
Substances”), which encourages Parties to promote policies and measures aimed at avoiding the
selection of high-GWP alternatives to HCFCs and other ODS in those applications where other
market-available alternatives exist that minimize impacts on the environment;
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Decision XXI/9 (“Hydrochlorofluorocarbons and Environmentally Sound Alternatives”),
which requests the Ozone Secretariat and related bodies to further develop methodological work
concerning destruction technologies and funding possibilities. For the latter, the decision also
requests to hold a seminar during OEWG-30 (Bangkok, Thailand, 21-25 June 2010).
Developments under the AWG-LCA
In the context of the process under the AWG-LCA, the negotiating text that was presented to the
AWG-LCA by its Chair in its 6th session (June 2009) and referred to the mitigation
opportunities derived from different actions guided by the precautionary principle, such as promoting
the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The text also referred to a possible arrangement to
reduce emissions of HFCs.
The negotiating text was subject to comments from Parties, resulting in a revised negotiating text
that was further refined by submissions from Parties into a compilation of texts annexed to the
report of the 7th session of the AWG-LCA (Bangkok, September-October 2009; Barcelona,
November 2009). In this compilation, reference was made to the above-mentioned mitigation
opportunities, as well as to the possibility of contributing to the reduction of HFC emissions
through the adoption of appropriate measures to progressively reduce production and consumption of
HFCs. The text notes that these actions might have to be undertaken under the Montreal Protocol, or
working through the Montreal Protocol.
In its eighth session, the AWG-LCA prepared a set of conclusions presenting the outcome of the work
of the AWG-LCA to the COP, presented as draft decisions. One of these draft decisions (“Various
approaches, including opportunities for using markets, to enhance the cost-effectiveness of, and to
promote, mitigation actions”) includes an optional paragraph where Parties are urged, under the
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to pursue the adoption of appropriate
measures to reduce production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, in the context of
non-market-based approaches (FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/L.7/Add.8/Rev.1).
In order to undertake further work on these decisions, the COP established a contact group on
long-term cooperative action, which, in turn, established drafting groups to work on specific draft
decisions or parts thereof. The texts were considered and modified by these drafting groups ( FCCC/CP/2010/2, Annex VII).
In 2010 and 2011, Parties continue discussions on this topic under the AWG-LCA agenda item on
“Various approaches, including opportunities for using markets, to enhance the
cost-effectiveness of, and to promote, mitigation actions”.
Developments under the AWG-KP
The issues relating to HFCs and PFCs as well as additional new gases and methodological proposals for
the measurement of GHGs are also being considered by the AWG-KP.
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