8th
Conference of the Parties to the Vienna
Convention and 20th Meeting of the Parties
to the Montreal Protocol
Doha, 20 November 2008
- The military is being deployed to help
save the ozone layer and to fight global
warming under a unique partnership between
the United Nations, national governments
and several armed forces it was announced
today.
Military personnel from
Australia, the Netherlands and the United
States are offering to assist countries
in the safe collection of stockpiles and
banks of unwanted, ozone-damaging substances.
The military experts
will also give support and advice on the
shipping, labeling and other logistical
procedures needed to 'fast-track' the chemicals
to disposal centers in various parts of
the globe.
The 'partnership' could
dramatically cut the costs of the disposal
of chemicals such as Hydrofluorocarbons
(HCFCs) and chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) to
a third or less of the current market cost.
Many armed forces have
existing, competitively priced contracts
already in place for destroying ozone-damaging
chemicals found as gases and foams in old
military air-conditioning units and other
kinds of army, navy and air force equipment.
It is hoped that by
joining forces, civilian destruction programmes
will be able to benefit from these low cost
contracts making them cheaper and more attractive
to undertake.
News of the initiative
comes as over 150 are meeting in Doha, Qatar
for the 8th Conference of the Parties to
the Vienna Convention and 20th Meeting of
the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on
substances that deplete the ozone layer.
Well over 90 per cent
of chemicals that damage the ozone layer
- the thin, high flying layer of gas that
filters out the sun's harmful rays - have
been phased-out.
But this means that
significant quantities are stockpiled in
old equipment and banked in existing devices
which will soon come to the end of their
life.
The conference is Doha
has been told that releases from these sources
could add to both ozone depletion and climate
change because many of these substances
are also potent greenhouse gases.
Without action to safely
remove and destroy these chemicals experts
fear that by 2015 releases equivalent to
several billion tones of C02 could occur.
Marco Gonzalez, Executive
Secretary of the UN Environment Programme's
(UNEP) Ozone Secretariat, said:" The
military in many countries have been at
the forefront of efforts to phase-out ozone
depleting substances - their experience
can be invaluable for developing countries
facing similar challenges".
The new initiative,
which will make use of technical experts
in the military already on the ground, brings
together a wide range of organizations and
countries and is being spearheaded by the
US Environmental Protection Agency and the
US Department of Defence.
Notes to Editors
Partnership Overview
This partnership has
a two pronged "Start and Strengthen"
approach to support collection and destruction:
1) Sharing of information and 2) Consulting
on logistics.
Better Treaty Coordination.
The UNEP Ozone Secretariat has agreed to
act as coordinator with the Basel Convention
Secretariat and other conventions to ensure
the transport of unwanted ozone depleting
substances to countries with destruction
facilities is correctly permitted. This
activity itself will be helpful because
it will streamline the desirable shipments
of chemicals to proper destruction facilities.
Public Relations. Local
military authorities will have the desirable
experience of working with local environmental
authorities, helping with state and community
relations on other environmental issues
faced at overseas bases.
More Efficient and Cost-Effective
Waste Management. The partnership will coordinate
an international "clearinghouse"
to match supply with demand by connecting
countries requiring ODS destruction to those
having proper destruction facilities available.
They will make every effort to minimize
transport distances and maximize effectiveness.
By having a global clearinghouse, small
quantities can be aggregated for maximum
destruction cost-effectiveness.
Partners
Argentina Ministry of
the Environment
Australia Department of Defence
Australia Department of the Environment,
Water, Heritage and the Arts
Federated States of Micronesia Ministry
of Environment
Institute for Governance & Sustainable
Development (IGSD)
International Network for Environmental
Compliance & Enforcement (INECE)
Mauritius Ministry of Environment
Netherlands Halon Bank Association
Netherlands Ministry of Defence
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
United States Department of Defense
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Quotes by Some of the Partners
"The military's
leadership shown by these partners will
earn the praise of environmentalists and
compliance officials from around the world,"
said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute
for Governance & Sustainable Development
(IGSD), and Director of the International
Network for Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement (INECE), a network of 4,000
environmental authorities in more than 150
countries. "Protecting the earth against
climate change is an environmental security
campaign that we all support."
"Argentina is proud
to be one of the leaders promoting the climate
benefits of the Montreal Protocol, and we
welcome the opportunity to work with the
technical logistics experts from the militaries
of the world to continue these efforts to
realize benefits for both the climate system
and the ozone layer," said Romina Picolotti,
Secretary of Environment for Argentina.
"Our goal is to be first to benefit
from this assistance to achieve the highest
possible ozone and climate benefits at affordable
cost. Once again, Argentina wants to continue
demonstrating through our actions that developing
countries are willing to take on their fair
share of climate responsibility when technology
and financing are available."
"The United States
is committed to actions under the Montreal
Protocol for the benefit of the global climate
system and fragile ozone layer," said
James L. Connaughton, Chairman, US Council
on Environmental Quality. "Experts
who responsibly manage military ozone-depleting
substances can transfer that know-how throughout
the world to recover and destroy a significant
portion of unwanted or unusable ozone-depleting
substances."
Island nations are among
the most vulnerable to climate change,"
said Sateeaved Seebaluck, Permanent Secretary,
Mauritius Ministry of Environment. "We
must do everything possible within as well
as outside the scope of the climate treaties
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as fast
as we can to avoid passing the tipping points
for abrupt climate changes, including sea-level
rise that threatens Mauritius and all other
island and coastal nations. That's why Mauritius
and Micronesia have proposed incentives
for collection and destruction and why we
welcome this partnership."
"It is an honor
for military logistics experts to use their
considerable talent and experience to help
the world protect the stratospheric ozone
and climate," said Robert S. Thien,
US DoD ODS Program Manager. "I am confident
that the United States Department of Defense
and our partners can provide guidance to
developing nations concerning collecting,
storing/banking and someday destroying CFCs,
HCFCs and other ozone-depleting substances
that also threaten climate."
"The Netherlands
is proud of our national leadership in combined
ODS banking for both industry and the military
and pleased to share everything we know
that can protect the global environment,"
said Anton Janssen, Head, Knowledge Centre
for Occupational Safety and Health and Environment,
Netherlands Ministry of Defence." "Technical
cooperation on ODS application and replacement
avoids costly duplication of effort and
builds trust and networks so experts can
work together for the good of human society."
"For more than
a decade, experts in our Defense Logistics
Agency have worked hard to perfect every
detail of ODS bank management," said
Kristen N. Taddonio, Manager of Strategic
Climate Projects, EPA Climate Protection
Partnerships Division. "Military organizations
know everything about putting ODS in secure
long-term storage, moving ODSs to destruction
facilities, and moving mobile destruction
facilities to ODS."
"Military organizations
have protected the ozone layer through leadership,
policy, procurement, and management,"
said K. Madhava Sarma, Senior Expert Member,
Montreal Protocol Technology and Economics
Panel. He added, "With military leadership
and technical expertise on ODS collection
and destruction, the world is sure to succeed
in preventing harmful emissions from the
ODS banks."
