Plenary

Highlights and images for 31 October 2022

Montreal, Canada

Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

  1. Negotiations
  2. Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
  3. 34th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MOP34)
Plenary

Delegates applaud the call for high ambition at the meeting.

Delegates hit the ground running on Monday. Participants exchanged views on many substantive issues, building on the work they carried out at the July meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG 44).

Want to dive deeper? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Parties opened and swiftly concluded discussion of future availability of halons and their alternatives. Several of the other items considered related to work by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) and its Technical Options Committees (TOCs). This included an in-depth discussion of recommendations by the Methyl Bromide TOC (MBTOC) regarding nominations from three parties, South Africa, Canada, and Australia, for critical-use exemptions for methyl bromide for 2023 and 2024. The issue will be the focus of continued discussions in plenary later in the week.

Megumi Seki

Megumi Seki, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat

 

On its first day, MOP 34 established six contact groups, including on:

  • energy efficiency;
  • identification of gaps in global atmospheric monitoring and emissions of carbon tetrachloride;
  • strengthening Montreal Protocol institutions;
  • the terms of reference for a study on replenishment of the Multilateral Fund;
  • methyl bromide stocks and quarantine and pre-shipment uses; and
  • strengthening the TEAP and TOCs for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

During the lunch break, delegates gathered for the launch of a new book celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol. Protecting the Ozone Layer was written by Montreal Protocol veterans Stephen O. Andersen, former Co-Chair of the TEAP, and Marco Gonzalez, former Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat, and edited by former TEAP member and Foam Technical Options Committee Co-Chair Sally Rand. It tells the story of the “inspired treaty design” underpinning the Montreal Protocol’s successes and aims to inspire “new ambition” to protect both the ozone layer and the climate.

Gilbert Bankobeza

Throughout the day, delegates praised Gilbert Bankobeza (second from right) for his service to the Ozone Secretariat as his retirement approaches.

By the time MOP 34 suspended its work in plenary on Monday evening, the Co-Chairs noted happily that the meeting was running ahead of schedule. The contact group on energy efficiency met in the evening, and the contact group on institutional processes was scheduled to meet on Tuesday morning before the start of plenary.

Plenary

The opening of the 34th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol

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All ENB photos are free to use with attribution. For the 34th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, please use: Photo by IISD/ENB | Matthew TenBruggencate.

Selected Images

A view of the dais

Delegates connect on the lunch break.

Delegates confer in the hallways after plenary.

Natasha F. Nakasone, Federated States of Micronesia

 

Daniel López Vicuña, Mexico

 

Leslie Smith, Grenada

 

Kofi Agyarko, Ghana

 

Book launch of 35th Montreal Protocol Anniversary: Protecting the Ozone Layer

Sally Rand, Stephen O. Andersen, Megumi Seki, and Marco Gonzalez host the launch of the book 35th Montreal Protocol Anniversary: Protecting the Ozone Layer.

Stephen O. Andersen, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

 

Marco Gonzalez, former Executive Secretary of the Montreal Protocol

Side Event: Economic Growth through Policy Harmonisation

Isobel McFarlane, UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, and Martine Uwera, Rwandan Environment Management Authority

 

Nihar Shah, Global Cooling Efficiency Program, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

 

Patrick Blake, UNEP

 

Martine Uwera, Rwandan Environment Management Authority

 

Event organised by

Tags

Organiser
Ozone
Topic
Atmosphere
Chemicals & Wastes
Negotiations
Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

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