EIA calls for “ambitious” phase down target
13th July 2016
UK: Green group the EIA has called for the most ambitious HFC phase-down targets to be agreed when Montreal Protocol meetings open in Vienna this week.
The meetings of the Montreal Protocol start on Friday with a resumed two-day Open-Ended Working Group meeting followed by the 38th OEWG (July 18-21) and the 3rd Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties (July 22-23). The meetings are expected to finalise discussions on challenges such as financing and begin negotiations on four amendment proposals submitted by the Island States, European Union, North American countries and India.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has produced a new briefing, The Importance of Ambition in the 2016 HFC Phase-Down Agreement, outlining key aspects of the proposals and calling on Parties to seek an agreement securing the highest climate ambition.
In the document, the EIA claims that there is no substitute for an ambitious HFC phase-down for both the developed and developing countries.
“Given the level of ambition being demanded of A5 Parties, it is only appropriate that non-A5 Parties match and exceed that level of ambition themselves,” the EIA says.
“The lead given by the European Union in its adoption of the F-gas Regulation,” it says, “is more ambitious than all of the amendment proposals and both mitigation scenarios for non-A5 Parties outlined by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).
“Other non-A5 Parties, such as the United States and Australia, have concrete domestic proposals that commit their countries to HFC reductions in the near-term that are in line with the most ambitious amendment proposals,” it adds.
The EIA says that such and approach will not only achieve significant short-term climate benefits but also ensure long-term sustained reductions in HFC consumption. It also sees financial benefits.
“Importantly, it is significantly less expensive as it will maximise leapfrogging of HFCs altogether and incentivise transitions to final low-GWP solutions rather than proceeding along a slow and costly progression from high-GWP to medium-GWP to lower-GWP HFCs.”
