Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 1 • 20th January 2006

Governments Speed Up Phase-Out of Ozone-Depleting Substances

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During the seventeenth Meeting of the Parties (MOP) of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer held in Dakar from 12-16 December 2005, the 189 Parties reached agreement on a wide range of issues such as the elimination of remaining ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in developed countries, support of continued phase-out in developing countries and illegal trade in ODS. Most observers and participants viewed the conference as a success. Despite an extensive agenda that included many controversial issues, all items were resolved in time, preventing the need to have an extraordinary MOP for the third year in a row. A number of exemptions were made to enable developed countries to continue to produce or use listed ODS for “critical” uses, such as for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) contained in the metered dose inhalers commonly used to treat asthma. However, as the Protocol’s disciplines on production, use and trade of listed chemicals begin to come into effect for developing countries, the capacity of the Protocol to provide flexibilities such as exemptions for necessary use in these countries was called into question. Nonetheless, the exemptions agreed amount to some 7,466 tonnes in total — of which the US alone takes up 6,749 — and represent a 45 percent decline from the amounts granted the previous year. In addition, Parties to the treaty agreed to a budget of $470 million to be disbursed between 2006 and 2008 to promote the transfer of ozone-friendly technologies and skills.

Other issues addressed in Dakar included the challenge of reducing illegal trafficking in ODS and of how to take into account existing stockpiles. As a first step, Parties decided to conduct a feasibility study on developing a system for tracking the movement of ODS.

For daily updates and a full summary of the meeting, see IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin at http://www.iisd.ca/ozone/mop17/

ICTSD reporting; “Brief summary of the MOP-17,” UNDP; “Governments Take Forward Fight to Save Ozone Layer,” UNEP, 16 December 2005; ENB Vol. 19 No. 47, 19 December 2005; “Developing Countries Funded for Ozone Safe Technology”, ENS, 16 December 2005; “Millions for Developing Countries Sought to Extend Ozone Recovery”, ENS, 13 December 2005.