Progress on Ozone Protection Only the Beginning
GENEVA, Switzerland, July 12, 2000 (ENS) - Developed countries
have made impressive progress over the past decade in phasing out
ozone destroying chemicals. Now they must help developing
countries do the same, said United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) executive director Klaus Toepfer, on Tuesday.
"For the next few years, the top priority for all governments
will be to ensure that developing countries have the
technological and financial capacity they need for moving to
ozone friendly chemicals," said Toepfer.
He was speaking as more than 300 diplomats and experts meet in
Geneva this week. They are considering ways to prevent further
damage to the stratospheric ozone layer and preparing for the
12th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, which will
be held in Burkina Faso in December.
The ozone layer is essential for shielding humans, plants and
animals from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light. It has
thinned to record levels in recent years. According to the World
Meteorological Organization, a hole in the ozone above Antarctica
exceeded 22 million square kilometres (8.5 million square miles)
during last September's Antarctic spring.
Near Earth's northern pole, ozone losses of over 60 percent have
occurred in the Arctic stratosphere this winter, one of the
coldest stratospheric winters on record, according to the Third
European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone sponsored by the
European Union and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, governments agreed to phase out
chemicals that destroy stratospheric ozone. To date, 175
countries have ratified the protocol.
Developed countries have phased out ozone depleting substances
such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), carbon tetrachloride, methyl
chloroform and halons.
UNEP, which provides the Protocol's secretariat, believes that
the ozone layer can recover, but only if countries continue to
vigorously enforce the Protocol.
This week's session of what is known as the open ended working
group will consider new substances entering the market and
measures to change from CFC-based inhalers used by asthma
sufferers.
It will discuss a proposal from the 15 member European Union to
speed up developing countries' timeline for phasing out
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are used as substitutes
for CFCs.
The proposal is based on the concern that, while much less
destructive than CFCs, HCFCs do contribute to ozone depletion,
and other substitutes are now available on the market.
CFCs were originally invented to serve as refrigerants. Thanks to
their low toxicity, non-flammability and low price they became
popular in most refrigeration applications, from domestic
refrigerators to large refrigeration plants in cold stores and
supermarkets.
They became popular in other uses such as foam blowing and
aerosols. Once it became clear that CFCs were potent ozone
depletors which would have to be phased out, HCFCs served as CFC
replacements. HCFCs are currently used in many applications where
CFCs were formerly used, particularly in the refrigeration sector
and the manufacture of rigid insulating foam.
Since technically and economically feasible alternatives to HCFCs
have become available, the European Commission wants phase out
dates to be set for the vast majority of uses.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union,
is proposing bans for virtually all remaining HCFC uses by 2015 -
much sooner than the Montreal Protocol's deadlines of 2030 for
developed countries and 2040 for developing nations. It also
wants the production of HCFC controlled under the Protocol.
The Commission believes that the lack of production controls
creates a risk that HCFC producing companies will heavily promote
HCFCs even where they could be replaced by other less
environmentally hazardous substances.
On Monday, the Protocol's Implementation Committee reviewed
developing countries' 1998 data on CFCs. Under the Protocol,
developing countries were committed to freezing CFC emissions at
average 1995-97 levels during the 12 month period that ended June
30, 2000.
They must now reduce rapidly to achieve a 50 percent cut by 2005;
the deadline for a complete phase out is 2010. Developed
countries stopped using these chemicals almost completely in
1996.
Analysis of the 1998 data showed that CFC consumption in many
developing countries is already less than or equal to the 1995-97
baseline, meaning that they are on track to meeting their phase
out commitments. Eight of the nine developing countries that
produce CFCs have cut production to below baseline levels.
The Multilateral Fund, set up to help developing countries phase
out ozone depleting substances, approved new funding on Monday of
US$40.5 million for 135 projects and activities in 31 countries.
Since 1991, the fund has disbursed more than US$1 billion for
phasing out the consumption of 142,000 tonnes of CFCs and halons,
and the production of nearly 80,000 tonnes, in over 110
developing countries.
Find out more about the Montreal Protocol online at:
http://www.unep.ch/ozone/montreal.htm
SOURCE: Environment News Service (ENS)
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