Governments Agree to $470 million Package for Phasing Out Harmful Chemicals
Dakar - The member states of the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer have agreed to a budget of $470 million
to support the continuing transition by developing countries to
CFC-free refrigerators and other ozone-safe technologies during
the three-year period 2006 - 2008.
The strong push to complete the developing country phase out of
ozone-depleting substances reflects continued international
concern about the damaged condition of the stratospheric ozone
layer. In September of this year, the annual Antarctic spring
ozone "hole" reached a maximum of 10,000 square miles
(25,900 sq km), equivalent to the size of North America, and
close to the record set in 2003.
In addition, last week saw reports of a new scientific study which
concludes that, even if the chemical phase-outs agreed under the
Montreal Protocol are fully achieved, the ozone layer will not
fully recover until 2065 - fifteen years later than previously
estimated - due to the continued release of CFCs from old
equipment in developed countries.
A depleted ozone layer allows more UV-B radiation to reach the
Earth's surface. Risks include more melanoma and nonmelanoma
skin cancers, more eye cataracts, weakened immune systems,
reduced plant yields, damage to ocean ecosystems, reduced
fishing yields, adverse effects on animals, and more damage
to plastics.
Under the Protocol, developing countries have until 2010 to phase
out CFCs and halons and until 2015 to phase out methyl bromide.
The newly agreed funding package will supplement the almost
$2 billion already disbursed since 1990 by the Protocol's
Multilateral Fund on capacity-building and projects for
phasing out ozone-depleting substances.
"Completing the phase out of CFCs by developing countries is
essential for returning the stratospheric ozone layer to
health," said Marco Gonzalez, Executive Secretary of the
Protocol, which was negotiated under the auspices of the UN
Environment Programme. "Today's agreement demonstrates that
the global partnership for ozone protection is alive and well."
The meeting has also reached agreement on the continuing phase
out by developed countries of several remaining uses of CFCs
and of methyl bromide (a fumigant for high-value crops).
The phase-out deadlines for these countries have already
passed; however, the Protocol allows governments to request
specific, time-limited "critical-use exemptions" when
technically or economically feasible alternatives do
not yet exist.
Earlier conferences granted exemptions for methyl bromide
to 16 developed countries totaling 16,050 metric tonnes
for 2005 (the first phase-out year) and 13,014 tonnes
for 2006 (plus an additional 404 tonnes for 2006 that
were confirmed today). The 2007 critical-use exemptions
agreed today for Australia(41 tonnes), Canada(40),
Japan(636) and the US (6,749) amount to some 7,466
tonnes - representing a forty-five percent reduction
from the amounts agreed for the previous year.
"This sharp year-on-year decline greatly stengthens the
credibility of the Protocol. Farmers and other users
of methyl bromide are clearly working hard to find
replacements to this dangerous chemical," said Mr. Gonzalez.
The total agreed essential-use exemptions for CFCs in
metered dose inhalers for asthmatics of 2,039 tonnes in
2006 and 1,243 tonnes in 2007 also show an important
decline. The CFC phase-out year for developed countries
was 1996.
Other issues addressed in Dakarhave included the challenge
of reducing illegal trafficking in CFCs and other substances
and a recent joint report of the Protocol's Technology
and Economics Assessment Panel and the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change on ozone and global warming
interlinkages entitled "Safeguarding the Ozone Layer
and the Global Climate System".
This week's conference consisted of the Seventh Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention
for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 17th Meeting
of the Parties to the Montreal Protocolon Substances that
Deplete the Ozone Layer. The conference also celebrated
the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Convention
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