News and Updates

Today, the Philippines joins the rest of the world in celebrating the 22nd Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, a landmark agreement that has successfully reduced the global production, consumption, and emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

The Montreal Protocol is known for being the most successful multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) to date because of it is the most widely ratified in world, which is also why this year’s theme is “Universal Participation: Ozone Protection Unifies the World.” Presently, 195 countries are member-states, and this wide participation from societies around the world has made the Protocol achieve significant accomplishment over the past 22 years.

One of its most important accomplishments is its contribution to the world fight against climate change. ODS are also greenhouse gases that contribute to the radiative forcing of climate change. The Parties to the Protocol had phased out the consumption of over 95% of all of the chemicals controlled by the Protocol, with consumption reduced by 99% in industrialized countries.

Historical emissions of ODS and scenarios of potential emissions show that the ODS contribution to radiative forcing most likely would have been much larger if the ODS link to stratospheric ozone depletion had not been recognized in 1974 and followed by a series of regulations. Reduction of ODS has resulted in the elimination of approximately 25 billion tons of CO2 greenhouse gas in total through 1990 with the maximum value to 2000. To get an idea of how much that was, Japan's emission in the standard year of 1995 based on the Kyoto Protocol is approximately 1.3 billion tons of CO2.

Hence, the Montreal Protocol is also recognized as the most successful international agreement for preventing global warming due to such large reduction of greenhouse gas, even more successful than the Kyoto Treaty. In fact, the climate protection already achieved by the Montreal Protocol alone is far larger than the reduction target of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Many countries, both developed and developing, have met their phase-out targets well ahead of schedule. In the Philippines, the substances chlorofluorocarbons or CFC (excluding CFC-12), halons, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride were all phased out even before its Protocol phase-out deadline.

Health benefits are also identified as effects of the Montreal Protocol. Damage to the ozone layer allows the entry of dangerous ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation from the sun which causes skin cancer, eye cataracts and weak immune systems. Because of the Protocol, societies all over the world have avoided millions of cases of fatal skin cancer and cataracts. The United States estimates that by the year 2165 more than 6.3 million skin cancer deaths will have been avoided in America alone and that efforts to protect the ozone layer will have saved the country an estimated $4.2 trillion in health care costs over the period 1990-2165.

Montreal Protocol protects the ozone layer and the world’s climate. With further implementation of the Protocol's provisions, the ozone layer should recover between the years 2050 to 2075.

The United Nations Environment Programme – Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP-DTIE) OzonAction Programme has launched a media corner called “Ozone2Climate Times” at the website of the said agency. This aims to provide useful information and build capacity of journalists on ozone layer protection and its linkages with climate change. The website URL is http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/ozone2climate/index.htm.

As we celebrate the 22nd Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the citizens of the 195 member-states have realized that this multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) which has achieved almost universal participation of the world and phased-out more than 90% of chlorofluorocarbons have given significant climate benefits for the world. Halo-carbons and other ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are also greenhouse gases, and the Montreal Protocol which has eliminated the production and use of many ODS has simultaneously eliminated tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

At this point, there is still much to be done under the Protocol. As nations continue to ensure their compliance to the Protocol, they also contribute to mitigation efforts for climate change. It is thus important to inform citizens all over the world about the importance of stopping the use of ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).

2010: No more CFCs!

Shecco is organizing a conference on natural refrigerants on 19-20 October 2009 in Brussels, Belgium. Shecco is an integrated Marketing & Communication consultancy supporting the introduction of climate friendly technologies and promoting natural refrigerants as climate-friendly replacement for HCFCs and HFCs based in Belgium.

The conference will bring together industry and finance experts, and policy makers to discuss CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons. As a milestone on the way to Post-Kyoto discussions in Copenhagen this December, Atmosphere 2009 sets out to sum up the technical, political and economic challenges natural refrigerants are still facing.

Important Dates

22 June : Registration for Atmosphere 2009 opens
24 July : Early bird rate expires
14 Sept : Registration fee non-refundable
18 Sept : Room booking deadline for Hotel Amigo
8 Oct : Registration for Atmosphere 2009 closes

18 Oct : “Recommendations for Copenhagen” - Presentation & Group Discussion
19 Oct : Atmosphere 2009 opening
20 Oct : Atmosphere 2009 closing
27 Oct : Access to conference proceedings

7-18 Dec : Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference

The conference language will be English. In case you or your colleagues are interested to
attend the conference, please visit the conference website and contact Shecco directly:

Conference website: www.atmosphere2009.com
Marc Chasserot, Managing Director
Rue de la Science 10
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32-2-2303700
Mob: +32-475972006
Fax: +32-2-2800436
Email: marc.chasserot@shecco.com
Web: www.shecco.com

Shecco maintains the following websites which can be subscribed free-of-charge:
www.naturalrefrigerants.com
www.R744.com (carbon dioxide)
www.ammonia21.com
www.hydrocarbon.com