Summary
The thirty-ninth session of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Montreal Protocol (OEWG 39) convened for its final day on 14 July 2017, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The morning plenary opened with progress reports from the contact groups and informal consultations. The plenary sent to the 29th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 29) a draft decision on essential uses of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by non-Article 5 parties after 2020. After some debate, it also forwarded to the MOP a draft decision on energy efficient technical and financial assistance and a workshop on climate and energy co-benefits of the Montreal Protocol.
Plenary suspended so that the two contact groups could continue their work through late afternoon. When the plenary reconvened, it agreed to forward several draft decisions on process agents, global warming potential (GWP) values for certain substances, destruction technologies for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and a nomination for an essential-use exemption (EUE) for laboratory and analytical uses of carbon tetrachloride. The plenary also agreed on a list of items to be covered by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) in its supplementary report to the MOP on funding needs for the 2018-2020 replenishment of the Multilateral Fund (MLF). It also agreed to defer further discussion on several other matters to the MOP, including data reporting issues and nominations for critical use exemptions (CUE) for methyl bromide uses.
Co-Chair Sylla gaveled the meeting to a close at 6:22 PM.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily digital coverage and a summary and analysis report from the Workshop on the Safety Standards Relevant to the Safe Use of Low-GWP Alternatives to HFCs and OEWG 39. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Sean Wu
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Morning Plenary
Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, and Co-Chair Cindy Newberg, US, speaking with Martin Sirois, Canada
View of the morning plenary
View of the dais
Delegates from Estonia reviewing a document with a conference intern
Delegates from China
Ives Enrique Gómez Salas and Agustin Sánchez Guevara, Mexico
Marie-Neige Philoe, Seychelles
Rajendra Kumar Foolmaun, Mauritius
Amit Love, India
Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat
Liana Ghahramanyan, Armenia
Ole-Kristian Kvissel, Norway
Contact Group on MLF Replenishment
View of the contact group on MLF replenishment
The panel during the contact group on MLF replenishment
Ana Maria Kleymeyer, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
Iftikhar-ul-Hassan Gilani, Pakistan
Contact Group on Data and Destruction Technologies
View of dais during the contact group on data and destruction technologies
Taha Mohammed Zatari, Saudi Arabia, during the morning plenary
John Thompson, US
Closing Plenary
View of the panel during the closing plenary
Co-Chair Cheikh Ndiaye Sylla, Senegal
Co-Chair Agustin Sánchez Guevara, Mexico, reports back from the contact group on MLF replenishment
Co-Chair Martin Sirois, Canada, reports back from the contact group on data and destruction technologies
Non-Article 5 parties confer
Article 5 parties confer
Around the Venue
Brazilian delegation
IISD/ENB team (L-R): Keith Ripley, Jennifer Lenhart, Nadia Sohier Zaman, and Sean Wu