t the recently held 22nd annual meeting of the Montreal Protocol in Bangkok, a growing number of countrieshave supported a proposal to use the ozone treaty to address super greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs. Earlier this year some countries had proposed a formal amendment to the ozone treaty to phase down the production and use of HFCs. Once agreed, the amendment would ensure climate mitigation of up to 100 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2050, many times more than the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty. The United States, Mexico, and Canada also proposed a similar amendment. Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, while addressing the Bangkok summit said: “This is the biggest, fastest piece of climate mitigation available to the world in the next few years. Phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is a brilliant and necessary climate mitigation strategy and this may be the only climate strategy with support from industry, environmental groups, and a majority of parties. We owe it to the world to take advantage of this unique opportunity.”
China, India, and Brazil argued for further discussions of the amendment at the treaty’s open-ended working group meeting in mid-2011, a position the parties ultimately accepted. It is not yet clear whether this is merely a delaying tactic or whether these countries will assume a leadership role, which would in turn allow them to shape the form of the amendment. China, India, and Brazil have until now been enthusiastic supporters of the ozone treaty, and have fully complied with all of their obligations.
