BANGKOK: The 25th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol drew to a close in Bangkok
today following a week of heated negotiations.
Progress
towards addressing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) was made and the majority
of Parties demonstrated a willingness to move towards a global
agreement. This was despite
India, the world’s 10th largest economy, blocking detailed
discussions of the proposals, in contradiction of the recent G20
agreement to address phasing down the consumption and production of HFCs
under the Montreal Protocol.
In the
late hours of the meeting, the Parties agreed that the Montreal
Protocol’s technical and economic panel should prepare a report looking
at the economic costs and environmental
benefits of various scenarios of avoiding HFCs. Moreover, it was agreed
to hold a workshop on the management of HFCs back to back with the next
Montreal Protocol preparatory meeting.
After
years of deadlock, support for global action on HFCs has gathered pace
since the beginning of the year, from the Arctic Council’s call for a
phase-down of HFCs under
the Montreal Protocol in March and the G20 leaders’ statement at the St
Petersburg summit in September to two separate presidential agreements
between China and US in June and September and, most recently, the joint
declaration by Presidents Manmohan Singh
and Obama establishing a task force to resolve issues surrounding an
HFC phase-down.
“In
signaling their willingness to address HFCs in various high-level fora
this year, global leaders have made an important statement of intent.
Unfortunately, there was
scant evidence of this from India in Bangkok this week. We’re
struggling to understand how a commitment by Prime Minister Singh barely
a month ago has not translated into concrete action in Bangkok”, said
Clare Perry, Senior Campaigner at the London-based
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
A global phase-down of HFCs will mitigate at least 100 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2050.
Despite
contradictory indications from some quarters, a majority of Parties
continued to demonstrate their clear support for a global agreement to
tackle HFC production and
consumption, with many new countries formalising their commitment to
address the climate impacts of the chemicals introduced by the Montreal
Protocol.
"We are
pleased that the entire group of African countries has joined the
growing chorus of countries requesting formal discussions on phasing
down HFCs under the Montreal
Protocol," said Mark W Roberts, Senior Counsel and International Policy
Advisor at EIA’s US office. “The Montreal Protocol is the most
efficient and cost-effective path forward for stopping the massive
growth of these greenhouse gases that are thousands of
times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide.”
Strong
support for global action on HFCs under the Montreal Protocol has also
been expressed at recent climate talks. The matter will be discussed
again at the international
climate conference (COP19) scheduled to take place in Warsaw, Poland in
November.
