Highlights and images for 3 July 2023

Delegates walked into the balmy UN complex in Bangkok, Thailand, eager to get to work on the first day of the forty-fifth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 45) of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

OEWG 45 Co-Chair Ralph Brieskorn, the Netherlands, opened the meeting, expressing his gratitude for the hospitality shown by the people and Government of Thailand, and welcoming the opportunity to be able to meet in person in Bangkok.

In opening remarks, Dechen Tsering, Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, reminded delegates of how the Montreal Protocol helps address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Lauding the Protocol’s tradition of science-based decision-making, Megumi Seki, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, noted that the Secretariat has been sharing the Protocol’s assessment process with other fora, including the negotiations on a science-policy panel on chemicals, waste and pollution, and the Adhoc Global Assessment Dialogue. Highlighting that the “greater the progress at this meeting the less stressed you will be” at the thirty-fifth Meeting of the Parties (MOP 35) in Nairobi, Seki expressed confidence that delegations will make progress on the heavy agenda “with the usual spirit of cooperation and consensus.”

For a large part of the day, delegations considered and discussed reports presented by the Scientific Assessment Panel (SAP), the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) and the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).

SAP Co-Chairs David Fahey, Paul A. Newman, John Pyle, and Bonfils Safari presented the 2022 WMO/UNEP Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, noting, among others, heightened concern about how climate change will impact levels of tropical total column ozone. The SAP also drew attention to the 2022 Update of the 20 Questions and Answers about the Ozone Layer.

Co-Chairs Janet F. Bornman, Paul Barnes, and Krishna Pandey of the EEAP presented their Quadrennial Assessment 2022 on environmental effects of stratospheric ozone depletion, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and interactions with climate change. They discussed key findings on the effects from changes in the ozone layer and UV radiation, and their interaction with the climate system. They also considered the effects of breakdown products of controlled substances and their alternatives on: 

• the biosphere, biodiversity and ecosystem health, including on biogeochemical processes and global cycles; 
• human health; and
• ecosystem services, agriculture, and materials, including for construction, transport, photovoltaic use and microplastics.

Co-Chairs Bella Maranion, Marta Pizano, and Ashley Woodcock presented the 2019-2022 Quadrennial Assessment Report of TEAP, discussing key messages related to ozone depleting substances (ODS), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Additionally, delegations heard presentations from the Technical Options Committees (TOCs), specifically those related to: flexible and rigid foams; fire suppression; methyl bromide; medical and chemicals; and refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps.