Highlights and images for 31 October 2024

In Thailand, the good blessing dance, Krida Apiniharn, is a wish for good health, happiness, prosperity, and success. Dancers from the College of Dramatic Arts in Bangkok opened the high-level segment (HLS) of the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the Vienna Convention and the 36th Meeting of the Parties (MOP36) to the Montreal Protocol, conveying this wish to the delegates and high-level officials.

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

Lauding the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol as a “shining example of multilateral action,” Elizabeth Mrema, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), called for the universal ratification of the Kigali Amendment, highlighting its climate mitigation benefits, including avoiding up to 1°C of warming by the end of the century. 

Akanat Promphan, Minister of Industry, Thailand, announced that Thailand was accelerating the phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the same manner they phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the early years of the Montreal Protocol. 

Following farewell remarks from outgoing COP12 President Ndiaye Cheikh Sylla (Senegal) and outgoing MOP35 President Azra Rogović-Grubić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), delegates elected COP13 and MOP36 officers.  

Newly elected COP13 President Yaqoub Al-Matouq (Kuwait) and MOP36 President Kerryne James (Grenada) thanked delegates for the trust placed in them to steer the process. 

The HLS heard reports from the Protocol’s three Assessment Panels, and the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund. In national statements, parties outlined their actions toward implementing the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment. 

Countries highlighted their progress in phasing out ozone depleting substances (ODS) and their priorities going forward, including implementing measures to support life-cycle refrigerant management, state-of-the-art atmospheric monitoring stations, combatting illegal trade, and fostering energy efficiency. Meanwhile, contact groups, informal groups, and the Budget Committee continued their work in an effort to reach consensus on draft decisions and the budget so they can be adopted by the HLS on Friday. 

At a high-level event presented by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), delegates welcomed the Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment. Calling for coordinated action, participants engaged in an in-depth discussion on the co-benefits of implementing anthropogenic nitrous oxide abatement measures for climate change, the ozone layer, air and water quality, and human health. 

While fatigue started to affect many delegates on this penultimate day of the COP/MOP, optimism was still in the air that agreement would be reached on all outstanding draft decisions.