MONTREAL PROTOCOL MEETING OF PARTIES IN DUBAI

The 27^th Meeting of Parties (MoP) to the Montreal Protocol will convene from November 1-5, 2015 to discuss pressing issues related to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

 

Prior to the MoP, a resumed two-day Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) of the Parties is expected to conclude discussions on a mandate for a contact group to discuss the HFC amendment proposals.

 

In preparation for the meeting, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has produced the new briefing Solving the Global Climate Crisis: Taking the First Step with a Dubai Amendment on HFCs.

 

Our expert climate campaigners are available for interviews, comment and background briefings.

 

WHO:           Attending from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA):

·         Clare Perry – Climate Campaign Team Leader

·         Tim Grabiel – Senior Lawyer

·         Peter Grabiel – Senior Lawyer

·         Adela Putinelu – Climate Campaigner

 

WHEN:         October 29-30: Resumed OEWG meeting

November 1-5: Montreal Protocol Meeting of Parties

                       

WHERE:         The Conrad Hotel

Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates      

  

WHY:           The occasion is of utmost importance as Parties will discuss proposals to reduce the consumption and production of HFCs, super greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning. A global agreement under the Montreal Protocol to address HFCs could prevent the consumption of more than 100 billion tonnes of CO₂e HFCs by 2050. This would achieve significant near-term climate change mitigation and potentially catalyse far-reaching action at the Paris Climate Conference. EIA is calling on Parties to agree an amendment at the 27^th MoP in Dubai which mandates concrete, ambitious reductions in HFC production and consumption in developed countries and incentivises early action by developing countries to curtail HFC growth.

 

 

Follow the event live on Twitter via @EIAinvestigator

 

Governments should consider the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as strategy for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

Montreal, 21 October 2015 – Biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins can be the basis for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies as they can deliver benefits that will, according to the outcomes of a recent technical workshop on ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, increase the resilience of people to the impacts of climate change.

The key messages from the workshop, recently held in Johannesburg, South Africa, were delivered at a side event in Ankara, Turkey, at the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The focus of the messages is that governments should consider ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction to provide safety nets to communities in times of climate shocks and natural disasters. These findings come in advance of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“Paris 2015”).

"Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are the building blocks that provide natural solutions which build resilience for society to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change," said Barbara Thomson, Deputy Minister, Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa.
As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events, ecosystems can provide protection from these extremes by stabilizing the movement of water, earth, rocks and snow; serving as a buffer from climate impacts and hazards. 

Ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation (EbA) use biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, while ecosystem-based approaches to disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) are defined as ‘sustainable management, conservation and restoration
of ecosystems to reduce disaster risk, with the aim to achieve sustainable and resilient development’.

“Biodiversity is a critical resource, not only for climate change adaptation and mitigation, but as a tool to make countries more resilient and help reduce the risk and damages associated with natural disasters,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

“Taking ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation and ecosystem-based approaches to disaster risk reduction enables people to adapt to the impacts of climate change by using opportunities created by sustainably managing, conserving and restoring ecosystems to provide ecosystem goods and services. It is clear that these approaches should be integrated into broader adaptation and development strategies.”

Healthy ecosystems can also reduce socio-economic vulnerability by providing essential goods and services to people, such as supporting income generation and protecting human health.

At the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in October 2014, member States requested the Executive Secretary to compile and analyze experiences on ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and ecosystem-based adaptation. In response, the Secretariat is preparing a synthesis report that compiles experiences, planned activities and national targets of Parties, as well as other relevant information related to EbA and Eco-DRR. In addition, a technical workshop on ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction was organized in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 28 September to 2 October 2015, with the support of the European Union, the Government of South Africa, the Government of Sweden and the Government of Germany.

The purpose of the workshop was to review a draft synthesis report on experiences with implementation of EbA and Eco-DRR, identify gaps and share more information to strengthen the report. Workshop participants, which included national experts from key regions, including from small island developing States and least developed countries, representatives from indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as experts from relevant organizations, provided perspectives on implementing EbA and Eco-DRR.

The main conclusions from the synthesis report and from the workshop will be presented to the Convention’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice for consideration at its twentieth meeting.

For more information: www.cbd.int/climate/doc/flyer-climate-2015-10-20-en.pdf

GLACIERS SHRINK - CHINA

The global climate change has adversely affected the glaciers of Tibet, southwest China. The frozen earth has declined by 24,000,000 ha and glaciers have shrinked by 15% over the last 30 years. This is equivalent to that of the past 200 years.

July 22

http://eng.tibet.cn/2012sy/xw/201507/t20150722_3604425.html

DECLINING SNOW COVERAGE - CHINA

The number of days with snowfall had declined from 1981 to 2014 in Qinghai Tibet Plateau, southwest China. It has declined by 4.7 days per year on average and annual average maximum snowfall depth by 0.47cm. The snow covered area in the plateau was 19,000,000 ha accounting for 15.8 % of entire plateau from 2001 to 2014. The satellite remote sensing data 2014 had showed 17,600,000 ha on average which was 140 ha smaller than multi-year average.

July 22

http://eng.tibet.cn/2012sy/xw/201507/t20150722_3606365.html Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence ……www. resourceshimalaya.org 4

HEAVY RAINS WREAK HAVOC

The heavy rains accompanied by strong wind has killed 45 people, while injuring about 200 in Peshawar, Charsadda and surrounding villages, northwestern Pakistan. The wind had reached up to 110 kph, while an emergency was announced at all local hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

April 27

http://khybernews.tv/newsDetails.php?cat=3&key=ODE1NDg=

EUROPEAN UNION SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO PHASE-DOWN HFCs UNDER THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL

LONDON: The European Union (EU) today submitted a proposal to amend the Montreal Protocol to control hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), super greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, fire protection, aerosols and foams.

 

The EU move follows similar proposals submitted since 2009 by the USA, Canada, Mexico and Micronesia, and would significantly reduce HFCs in developed countries by following a phase-down schedule closely matching the EU F-Gas Regulation, groundbreaking legislation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in 2014.

 

“The EU clearly expects developed countries to lead by example,” said Clare Perry, Head of Climate at the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). “The EU has upped the ante significantly and is now calling on other developed countries to match it.”

 

In developing countries, the EU proposes a new approach, aimed at initially limiting the growth of HFCs, followed by an agreement to negotiate a phase-down schedule by 2020.

 

“The EU proposal is trying to be sensitive to the fact that HFCs are generally used to replace ozone-depleting HCFCs, which developing countries have only just begun to phase-out under the Montreal Protocol,” said Perry.

 

“For this reason, HFCs cannot be considered in isolation and this is the first proposal to try and address that specifically within an HFC amendment proposal – as such, it has the potential to unlock negotiations.”

 

The EU estimates global cumulative reductions in all countries would amount to 127 gigatonnes of CO₂-equivalent (Gt CO₂-eq) over 40 years.

 

The EU proposal will be considered at the upcoming Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) in Paris in July, and again at the Meeting of the Parties in Dubai in November.

AFRICAN GROUP SPURS PROGRESS TOWARDS GLOBAL AGREEMENT ON HFCs

BANGKOK: Unprecedented global attention on super greenhouse gases – hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs – resulted in agreement on a way forward under the Montreal Protocol this week.

 

At the five-day meeting in Bangkok, the African group emerged as a strong voice in support of tackling HFCs, overcoming resistance by a minority of countries.

 

There were high expectations at the start of the meeting after India, previously one of the strongest opponents, submitted its own HFC phase-down amendment proposal. This proposal, in combination with those filed previously by the North American countries and Micronesia and the efforts of the African group, brought new energy to the negotiations, with the vast majority of developing and developed countries in favour of a phase-down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.

 

Strong opposition from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, however, quickly showed that there remain serious obstacles.

 

“The efforts of India and Senegal, and the leadership of the African group in moving negotiations forward, provide hope that all countries can come to a swift agreement to take fast action on HFCs,” said Clare Perry, Head of Climate for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

 

A two-day technical workshop followed by a three-day political meeting was dedicated to the issue of managing HFCs.

 

“This meeting is a first but crucial step in ensuring that the Montreal Protocol doesn’t restore the ozone layer at the expense of the global climate,” said Mark W. Roberts, EIA International Policy Advisor. “Decisive action on HFCs will mitigate 100 billion tonnes of CO²e and deliver massive energy efficiency gains, catalysing strong climate benefits.”

 

Parties agreed to continue inter-sessional work on HFCs with a view to establishing a contact group at the next OEWG meeting in Paris in July. The explicit mention of ‘contact group’ is significant as it indicates formal negotiations will start this year.

ANTIHAIL GUNS PROVIDE RELIEF - INDIA

The anti-hail guns installed in Bareon Ghat and Deorighat, northern India since 2011 has provided relief to apple farmers from the effect of hailstorm. The gun fires mixture of acetylene gas which split into the atmosphere and falls in the form of rain or thin sleet beneficial for fruits. The gunshot cost ranges from INR 500,000 to 700,000.

April 15

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/anti-hail-guns-saviour-for-apple-farmers/67890.html