CFCs destroyed in pioneering project
25th February 2014
USA: A San Francisco based company has completed the destruction of around 8 tons of the CFC R12 from Nepal in a pioneering carbon finance project.
EOS Climate was authorised by the executive committee of the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MLF) to demonstrate how carbon finance can address remaining inventories of CFCs refrigerants in developing countries.
“This single project prevents emissions equivalent to over 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide,” said Dr Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, OzonAction manager at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
“Our hope is that it helps establish for the international community a sustainable model of securing carbon finance for management and disposal of CFC stocks in developing countries, while delivering significant environmental and economic co-benefits.”
The refrigerant was the remains of 74 tons of the contraband gas seized by customs at the Indo-Nepal border in 2001. Some of the gas was used quite legally in the intervening by the Nepalese until the complete CFC ban entered into force in 2010.
Then, under a deal brokered by UNEP, Nepal’s Bureau of Standards and Metrology contracted with EOS Climate to use the international carbon trading market to pay for its destruction.
EOS Climate is currently vetting prospective purchasers for the offset credits that resulted from the project.
“We expect this project to spark interest from pioneering organizations seeking the highest quality climate offsets, which will in turn mobilize investments in similar projects around the world to help preserve the legacy of the Montreal Protocol,” commented Jeff Cohen, co-founder of EOS Climate.
“There is tremendous environmental benefit that can be achieved by responsibly destroying stocks of CFCs from developing countries. This project from EOS handles the destruction of the ODS according to strict standards and should serve as a model for international ODS offset projects and corporations that want to invest in international ODS projects,” said Gary Gero, president of Climate Action Reserve, the carbon offset registry.
