Paris/Stockholm 19 November
2007 - Today sees the opening of a new chapter
in work of governments and international
organisations to help rid the world of a
group of chemicals which, besides depleting
the ozone layer, are also powerful greenhouse
gases.
A partnership agreement signed on 16th
November between the Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency and the United Nations
Environment Programme officially launches
activities to provide assistance to developing
countries to help them end their reliance
on hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), chemicals
which were adopted as alternatives to the
ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
used in applications like refrigeration,
air conditioning and foam blowing. UNEP
OzonAction has also unveiled today a new
section of its website- The HCFC Help Centre-
in response to the need for policy and technology
information about HCFCs and their alternatives.
The new Swedish-UNEP cooperation will raise
the awareness of industry and governments
in developing countries about commercially-available
alternatives to HCFCs and aims to convince
them about the benefits of adopting such
technology.
Although HCFCs have considerably lower
ozone depleting potentials than CFCs, they
are nonetheless harmful to the ozone layer.
In addition, many HCFCs have high global
warming potentials - up to 2000 times that
of carbon dioxide. By supporting the replacement
or avoidance of HCFCs in developing countries,
the partnership will therefore contribute
to protection of both the stratospheric
ozone layer and the global climate system.
This announcement comes quickly on the
heels of an historic agreement that was
negotiated this September under the Montreal
Protocol - the global treaty established
in 1987 to protect the Earth's ozone layer-
which accelerates the phase out of HCFCs
in developing countries. That adjustment
to the treaty caps production and consumption
levels in developing countries by 2013 and
brings forward the final phase-out date
of these chemicals by ten years.
The result of the adjustment to the Montreal
Protocol will mean that, as well as phasing
out a major remaining ozone depleting substance,
the benefits for the climate system, subject
to alternatives adapted, will be considerable
- preventing the release of up to the equivalent
of about 25 billion metric tonnes of carbon
dioxide (gigatonnes) over the coming decades,
where zero or low GWP substitute technologies
are adopted by countries. There is an opportunity
to gain additional significant climate benefits
in improved energy efficiency of replacement
technologies and other improvements, increasing
the cumulative climatic advantage to the
equivalent of around 38 billion metric tonnes
(gigatonnes) of carbon dioxide.
Dr. Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Senior Adviser,
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
said: "Having phased out HCFC consumption
in Sweden, to a large extent, we have the
experience to share in this regard. We have
been working with UNEP's OzonAction programme
to develop and apply our knowledge as a
platform to benefit developing and emerging
countries.
Mr. Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary-General
and Executive Director of UNEP said: "This
new initiative by the Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency and UNEP is a first important
step to follow up on the historic decision
on HCFCs under the Montreal Protocol. Thqt
decision is binding for 191 nations around
the world and from 2013 developing countries
will start to take action that will have
major climate and ozone layer benefits.
I have no doubt that this decision will
be inspiring to the delegates of the United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali
next month where activities beyond 2012
will be negotiated."
He added: "Support provided by Sweden
to UNEP to assist developing countries to
jump start the HCFC phase-out will help
UNEP to effectively deliver this assistance
both through our office in Paris, as well
as through our teams working in UNEP's Regional
Offices, which can provide focused and hands-on
assistance"
The HCFC Help Centre will provide links
to existing information from experts in
international organisations, government,
industry and NGOs sources about technologies
and policies related to these chemicals.
Please visit www.unep.fr/ozonaction/topics/hcfc.asp
Sweden: Dr. Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Senior
Adviser, Department of Enforcement and Implementation,
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency,
SE-106 48 Stockholm, Sweden
UNEP: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer
The Montreal Protocol is an international
treaty that is successfully protecting the
Earth's stratospheric ozone layer by phasing
out the production and consumption of ozone
depleting chemicals, including CFCs, HCFCs,
halons and methyl bromide. The treaty was
opened for signature on September 16, 1987
and entered into force on January 1, 1989.
Since then, it has undergone five revisions,
in 11000 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995
(Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing).
Ozone depleting chemicals including CFCs
and halon have been phased out in developed
countries by 1996 except for small essential
uses. By 2010, production of ozone depleting
substances will be banned in developing
countries. The Protocol's Multilateral Fund
has financed activities to phase out of
consumption and production of these chemicals
in more than 140 developing nations.
Due to its achievements to date, the Protocol
has been hailed as an example of exceptional
international cooperation and perhaps the
single most successful international agreement
to date. The global community celebrated
the 20th Anniversary of the signing of this
ground-breaking international treaty on
16 September 2007 in Montreal, Canada.
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
is the central environmental authority under
the Swedish government. The agency promotes
and coordinates work towards establishing
stronger and broader environmental responsibility
in society. No. of employees: 550
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is the United Nations system's designated
entity for addressing environmental issues
at the global and regional level. Its mandate
is to coordinate the development of environmental
policy consensus by keeping the global environment
under review and bringing emerging issues
to the attention of governments and the
international community for action.
About the OzonAction Compliance Assistance
Programme (CAP)
The Montreal Protocol is at an advanced
stage of implementation. Developing countries
now operate under a "compliance phase"
which requires them to achieve and sustain
compliance with specific obligations, promote
a greater sense of country ownership and
implement the agreed Executive Committee
framework for strategic planning. In 2002,
as an Implementing Agency of the Protocol's
Multilateral Fund, UNEP responded to this
new compliance context by changing its mode
of operation and structure to better assist
developing countries with the implementation
of the treaty. UNEP's OzonAction Programme
established a Compliance Assistance Programme
(CAP) that moved from a project management
approach to directly assisting countries
with specific compliance challenges. The
CAP is delivered through specialized staff
located in four of UNEP's Regional Offices
(Bangkok, Manama, Nairobi, Panama City)
and in the Paris office of the Division
of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE).
The CAP teams provide countries in the respective
regions with policy advice, compliance guidance
and conduct training to refrigeration technicians,
customs officers and other relevant stakeholders,
promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation
and support action-oriented awareness raising.
For more information about Division of
Technology, Industry and Economics and the
OzonAction Programme, please go to http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction.
Multilateral Fund Information can be found
at http://www.multilateralfund.org/about_the_multilateral_fund.htm
