Highlights and images for 28 October 2024

“Our work is not done yet,” one of the delegates exclaimed in anticipation of the thirteenth Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the Vienna Convention and thirty-sixth Meeting of the Parties (MOP36) to the Montreal Protocol. Delegates convened for the first day of the preparatory segment and didn’t lose time diving into the substantive items on the agenda. A major focus was the presentations on most recent insights into hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)-23 emissions made by the Scientific Assessment Panel (SAP) and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP), and deliberations by delegates on how to address them. 

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Dechen Tsering, Director UN Environment Programme Regional Office of Asia Pacific (UNEP ROAP), welcomed delegates, referring to the Montreal Protocol as a symbol of unity with nations harmonizing their efforts to safeguard our ozone layer and climate. She stated that much ground needed to be made up to stay below the 1.5ºC global warming target and encouraged all parties to collaborate under national cooling action plans. 

Megumi Seki, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, called for universal ratification of the Kigali Amendment by the tenth anniversary of the Amendment in 2026. She noted the growing emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and the respective impacts on the objectives of the Montreal Protocol, and expressed her pride and gratefulness for the outstanding work of the subsidiary bodies of the Montreal Protocol. 

Under the leadership of Co-Chairs Ralph Brieskorn (the Netherlands) and Miruza Mohamed (Maldives), delegates adopted the agenda and established a budget committee. They introduced almost all of the sub-items under “Montreal Protocol Issues” and established contact groups on:  

• HFC-23 emissions; 
• data reporting forms; 
• life-cycle refrigerant management (LRM);  
• very short-lived substances (VSLS);  
• feedstock uses of controlled substances;  
• enhancing the global and regional atmospheric monitoring of controlled substances;  
• climate-friendly alternatives for metered-dose inhalers; 
• future availability of halons and their alternatives; 
• possible compliance deferral for Article 5, group 2 parties; 
• strengthening Montreal Protocol institutions, including combating illegal trade; and 
• energy efficiency issues. 

The SAP and TEAP reported on HFC-23 emissions, noting significant discrepancies between reporting-based and atmosphere-derived estimates of emissions of HFC-23, with large differences between SAP and TEAP estimates. The SAP reported a substantial shortfall of 10.5 ̶ 12.5 kilotonnes per year in the attribution of global HFC-23 emissions to known sources or regions. Delegates expressed concern, with several underlining that these fugitive emissions would have a negative effect on the climate. Others called for a deeper discussion as to the origin of these emissions, linking this to the need to redesign the reporting form for collecting national data on production.  

Delegates celebrated that critical-use exemptions (CUEs) for methyl bromide for 2025 are coming to an end with Canada’s last CUE for 2.85 tonnes of methyl bromide for soil fumigation at a single strawberry nursery on Prince Edward Island. The draft decision was submitted to the high-level segment for adoption.  

Delegates also took note that 160 parties have ratified the Kigali Amendment and forwarded this item to the high-level segment for adoption. 

Parties were also encouraged to submit nominations for membership of the Implementation Committee, Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund, and Co-Chairs for the Open-ended Working Group.