Highlights and images for 5 July 2019

Thailand

  1. Negotiations
  2. Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
  3. 41st Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (OEWG 41)

Summary

Highlights for Friday, 5 July 2019

OEWG 41 Co-Chairs Laura-Juliana Arciniegas, Colombia, and Alain Wilmart, Belgium, congratulate each other on a successful OEWG.

OEWG 41 convened for its final day on Friday, 5 July 2019, in Bangkok, Thailand.Delegates met in the morning for contact and informal groups on the terms of reference (ToR) for Multilateral Fund (MLF) 2021-2023 Replenishment study; unexpected emissions of CFC-11; ongoing reported emissions of carbon tetrachloride (CTC); stocks of methyl bromide; and the ToR for the composition of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).All of the groups concluded their discussions, with deliberations set to resume at the 31st Meeting of the Parties (MOP 31) to be held in Rome, Italy in November 2019. Highlights of the contact and informal group discussions include:

  • how to improve licensing systems to achieve compliance;
  • reporting systems under the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol not replacing national-level obligations;
  • the need for the TEAP to take preparations for hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase-down plans into account as part of the MLF Replenishment Study ToR; and
  • how to define stocks in response to a proposed draft decision inviting parties to submit information, voluntarily, on methyl bromide stocks.

    • Two side events were held: ‘Cooling without warming the planet: Opportunities to converge business and sustainability goals’ presented by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and ‘A roadmap for sustainable cooling-what will it take?’ presented by the World Bank. Closing plenary resumed in the late afternoon. The Co-Chairs thanked delegates for their participation during the OEWG, saying a better understanding had been reached on items that are crucial to the progress for the Protocol. The meeting closed at 5:54 pm.As the meeting closed and delegates left the conference centre, there was a sense of completion and satisfaction as delegates had reached a point in deliberations where they felt comfortable forwarding issues to MOP 31. Saying goodbye, one delegate remarked that the big issues weren’t insurmountable at OEWG 41 as parties generally found a way forward, expressing hope that this would continue at MOP 31.

    IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) meeting coverage, is providing daily web coverage from OEWG 41. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis from the meeting, which is available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Sean Wu

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    Contact Group on CFC-11 issues
    Philip Owen, EU
    Martin Sirois, Canada
    Contact Group on CTC
    Co-facilitators Patrick McInerney, Australia, and Leslie Smith, Grenada
    Henry Wohrnschimmel, Switzerland
    Informal Group on Stocks of Methyl Bromide
    View of the room during the informal group
    Cornelius Rhein (right), EU, consulting with Niccolò Costantini, EU; Ole-Kristian Kvissel, Norway; and Henry Wohrnschimmel, Switzerland
    Informal Group on the Review of the TEAP ToR
    Participants during the informal group
    The dais during the informal group
    Plenary
    OEWG 41 Co-Chair Alain Wilmart, Belgium
    Agnieszka Tomaszewska and Janusz Kozakiewicz, Poland
    Özge Tümöz Gündüz and Ülkü Fusün Ertürk, Turkey; and Youssef Hammami, Tunisia
    Yawo Dandjesso, Togo
    Mario Francisco Correia Ximenes, Timor-Leste
    Philippe Chemouny, Canada, speaking with Helen Walter-Terrinoni and Helen Tope, TEAP Co-Chairs
    Osvaldo Patricio Álvarez Pérez, Chile, gives a warm hug to Ozone Secretariat Executive Secretary Tina Birmpili
    View of the dais during the afternoon plenary
    Gene Smilansky, US
    OEWG 41 Co-Chair Laura-Juliana Arciniegas, Colombia, giving closing remarks
    John Thompson, US, speaking informally with Ozone Secretariat Executive Secretary Tina Birmpili after the closing plenary
    OEWG 41 Co-Chairs Laura-Juliana Arciniegas, Colombia, and Alain Wilmart, Belgium, with members of the Ozone Secretariat
    Around the Venue
    Ozone Secretariat posing for a family photo
    Suely Machado Carvalho, Marco González, Bella Maranion, TEAP; and Cecilia Mercado, Multilateral Fund Secretariat

    Participants

    Negotiating blocs
    Central and Eastern Europe
    European Union