Summary
The thirty-ninth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 39) of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer began on Tuesday, 11 July 2017, at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand, with opening remarks by Somchai Harnhiran, Ministry of Industry, Thailand, and Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat.
In the morning, delegates started discussions on Kigali Amendment implementation issues, including: data reporting under Protocol Article 7; work by the Scientific Assessment Panel (SAP) on updating the global warming potential (GWP) values for substances in the Protocol control annexes; and the process for approving destruction technologies for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These items were referred to a contact group for further discussion.
IIn the afternoon, delegates briefly took note of progress by the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the Multilateral Fund (MLF) in developing guidelines for financing the phase-down of HFC consumption and production, as requested by MOP 28. They then turned to the 2018-2020 MLF replenishment, starting with a presentation by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) on its report on funding requirements. A contact group was formed to further discuss the replenishment.
The afternoon ended with TEAP presenting its 2017 report, including issues relating to nominations for essential use exemptions (EUEs) and critical use exemptions (CUEs), quarantine and preshipment (QPS) uses of methyl bromide, methyl bromide stocks, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) phase-out, and organizational matters.
In the evening, delegates attended a reception hosted by the Ozone Secretariat.
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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Opening Plenary
Somchai Harnhirun, Ministry of Industry, Thailand
Tina Birmpili, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat
Samuel Pare, Burkina Faso
Philip Owen, EU
Sergey Vasiliev, the Russian Federation
Rafael Da Soler, Brazil
Richard Mwendandu, Kenya
Nancy Akerman, US
Co-Chair Cindy Newberg, US
Anna Correa, Ecuador
Ezzat Lewis, Egypt
Liana Ghahramanyan, Armenia
SAP Co-Chair John Pyle, UK
SAP Co-Chair Paul Newman, US
Taha Mohammed Zatari, Saudi Arabia, in discussions with a delegate during the morning plenary
Afternoon Plenary
View of dais
TEAP Co-Chair Paulo Altoe, Brazil
TEAP Co-Chair Lambert Kuijpers, the Netherlands
Laura Arciniegas Rojas, Colombia
Annie Gabriel, Australia
Martin Sirois, Canada
Kenichiro Tanaka, Japan
Delegates from Argentina
View of dais
Ian Porter, TEAP, Australia
Around the Venue
