Progress was achieved at the 25th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Montreal Protocol held on 17-21 November in Paris with close to 200 countries able to agree to hold informal discussions on HFCs in a structured manner. In addition, an agreement was made to hold an extraordinary meeting in April 2015 together with a workshop to discuss the management of HFCs.

Despite high expectations on moving forward on the global HFC phase down under the Montreal Protocol, countries were unable to discuss the issue formally, mainly as a result of resistance by the Gulf countries, together with Pakistan.

Nevertheless, given the increasing pressure exerted by proponents of the HFC amendment (US, Canada, Mexico, and the Federated States of Micronesia), the EU’s important role in facilitating the debate, together with the broad support from a majority of developed and developing countries, it is likely that an agreement on a global HFC phase down will be struck in 2015 or latest 2016.

Countries agree on historically high replenishment of the Multilateral Fund

Developing countries may be encouraged toi ncrease their support for an HFC amendment following the agreement on the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for 2015-2017 fixed at $507.5 million (€406,4 million). This is higher than replenishments agreed for previous trienniums. The Multilateral Fund is a dedicated fund under the Montreal Protocol providing financial resources to developing countries to assist the min phasing down ozone-depleting substances. 

While demonstration projects are often seen asthe most effective way to showcase low-GWP technology in developing countries,a funding window of $10 million (€8 million) was approved earlier this year forprojects with low-GWP alternatives to ODS. These projects will be approved in2015.

EU announces plans to submit HFC amendment proposal in 2015

While the North American and Micronesian amendment proposals in the last 6 years have failed to overcome the opposition of some of the developing countries, the EU has taken a slightly differentapproach, which sparked new interest in the HFC talks. In the discussion papersubmitted prior to the meeting the EU has taken account of some of the concerns raised, which indicated the willingness to openly discuss the mechanisms forreducing the HFC production and consumption while taking account of the existing obligations to phase out HCFCs.

On Friday, the European Union’s new Climate Commissioner, Miguel Arias Canete, announced that the EU is considering submitting a formal proposal to amend the Montreal Protocol in 2015, ahead of talks to agree a global climate deal at CoP21 in Paris.

India and Chinas how willingness to move forward

In previous years, the discussions on apotential global phase down of HFCs were blocked mainly by the two biggesteconomies, India and China. While China had loosened its opposition already atprevious meetings, Indiafor the first time did not oppose the inclusion of HFC amendment proposals inthe meeting agenda, which raised a lot of optimism at the beginning of themeeting. 

In their statements, China noted that they are open toworking towards a multilateral agreement on HFCs, using the experience andinstitutions of the Montreal Protocol. China hopes that the internationalcommunity will be able to address the legal issues concerning the KyotoProtocol and the Montreal Protocol and reach a consensus. The countriesopposing the inclusion of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol argue that thesegases are already being dealt with under the Kyoto Protocol’s United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and bringing them under theMontreal Protocol would be in conflict with international law.

The presence of Prakash Javadekar, India’s Environment Minister was a clear sign of the country’s changing stanceregarding HFCs. During the discussion in the high level panel he indicated thatif there is enough time and if there is consensus, the international communitywill be able to successfully deal with HFCs. Moreover, by making concrete suggestions on next steps, such as joint collaborative research on alternatives or an extraordinary session to solve technology and finance questions, heindicated India’s interest in moving the issue forward.

Substantial progress blocked by Gulf countries, Pakistan

Gulf countries put a brake on the HFC discussions throughout the meeting and opposed formal discussion on the topic. Their main argument for not being able to agree was that low-GWP alternative solutions forHCFCs and high-GWP HFCs are not available for countries with ambient temperatures reaching over 52?C. 

In spite of intense discussions among delegates inside of the meeting room and in corridors, the last minute efforts of the USA to seal a deal on a mandate for a formal discussion group on HFCs hit significant opposition from Pakistan and Iraq who were not willing to support aformal discussion such a group.

Additional information on alternatives to ODS required

In order to address the concerns of developing countries, the Parties requested that the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) provide additional information on alternatives to ozone-depleting substances (ODS) with a focus on high ambient temperature regions. Moreover,the report that will be presented to the Parties in July 2015 and updated for aMeeting of the Parties in November 2015 should identify alternatives that are commercially available, technically proven, environmentally sound, economicallyviable and cost effective, as well as safe to use in areas with high urbandensities and taking into consideration flammability and toxicity issues.

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