Highlights and images for 16 July 2022

Saturday saw the close of the 44th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (OEWG-44), with delegates advancing negotiations as far as they could and agreeing to continue their discussions at the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) in Montreal later this year. The 5th Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (ExMOP-5) also convened and adopted two decisions on the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for 2021-2023 and extension of the fixed-exchange-rate mechanism.

In the morning, delegates convened briefly in plenary to hear updates on the progress of negotiations. The Maldives, co-chair of the informal group on strengthening Montreal Protocol processes, including consideration of illegal production and trade in ozone-depleting substances (ODS), reported that ideas have been compiled and the group will continue discussions at MOP 34.

Australia, co-chair of the contact group addressing energy efficiency and dumping, highlighted: new standards; use of new refrigerants in high-ambient-temperature countries; and capacity building at the national and regional levels for minimum energy performance standards. With regard to dumping, she said the group had discussed the meaning of “obsolete,” and had clarified that the proposal does not cover waste equipment but rather relates to used refrigeration equipment which ran on controlled substances or new equipment that was not energy efficient. 

The US, co-chair of the contact group on terms of reference for a study of Multilateral Fund (MLF) replenishment, reported the group will forward revised text to the MOP.

Mexico, co-chair of the contact group on replenishment, announced the agreed amount of USD 540 million for the current 2021-2023 period, of which USD 475 million will be in new contributions and USD 65 million will be from funds already due to the MLF from the 2018-2020 period. He further explained that USD 246 million of unspent funds from that period will be put in reserve to support implementation of the Montreal Protocol after 2023. 

Armenia, co-chair of the CTC contact group  reported that the group had addressed the Swiss CTC proposal and will resume discussion of the EU proposal on identifying sources of emissions originating from industrial processes  at the MOP. 

Immediately following the brief morning plenary, the contact group on methyl bromide stocks met, and parties continued consultations and contact group negotiations on replenishment. 

In the afternoon, OEWG-44 reconvened in plenary. The replenishment contact group reported finalization of the agreed amounts for the 2021-2023 period and that they had agreed to extend the fixed-exchange-rate mechanism to the 2021–2023 replenishment. The Netherlands affirmed that the talks had resulted in “mission accomplished” and welcomed delegates’ approach, which he said had demonstrated “pragmatism first and a flavor of creativity," made possible by the opportunity for in-person interactions.

Delegates then conducted a reading of the meeting report (UNEP/OzL.Pro.WG.1/44/L.1). The Russian Federation requested removal of parties’ statements against the military action in Ukraine, stating that it is against the Protocol’s rules of procedure to raise political issues. The US and EU argued for keeping the statements. After consulting the Secretariat’s legal office, parties agreed to add a footnote reflecting the Russian Federation’s objections.

At the close of OEWG-44, Co-Chair Martin Sirois (Canada) thanked all delegates for their cooperation as part of the "ozone family", saying their approach is unique amongst multilateral environmental agreements.

Samuel Paré (Burkina Faso), as MOP President, then opened the 5th Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties (ExMOP-5). ExMOP-5 adopted two decisions on: replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for 2021-2023; and extension of the fixed-exchange-rate mechanism.

The meeting closed at 5:00 pm.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of the meeting will be available on Tuesday, 19 July 2022