Distr.
GENERAL

UNEP/OzL.Conv.4/Bur.1/3
12 May 1999

REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE
OF THE PARTIES TO THE VIENNA CONVENTION FOR THE
PROTECTION OF THE OZONE LAYER ON THE
WORK OF ITS FIRST MEETING

INTRODUCTION

1. The first meeting of the Bureau of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was held in Geneva at the new headquarters of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 30 April 1999.

I. OPENING OF THE MEETING

2. The meeting was opened at 2.20 p.m. on Friday, 30 April 1999 by Mr. Vassily N. Tselikov (Russian Federation) on behalf of the President of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

3. It was attended by the following members of the Bureau, who had been elected to their respective posts by the Conference of the Parties at its fourth meeting, held in San José, Costa Rica on 25 and 27 November 1996, or named by their Governments in accordance with rule 24 of the rules of procedure.

4. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Nelson Sabogal (Programme Officer/Scientist) of the Ozone Secretariat and Mr. Rumen Bojkov of the World Meteorological Organization.

II. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

5. The Bureau adopted the following provisional agenda contained in document UNEP/OzL.Conv.4/Bur.1/1:

III. ACTION TAKEN ON THE DECISIONS ADOPTED AT THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE
CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE VIENNA CONVENTION HELD IN SAN JOSÉ,
ON 25 AND 27 NOVEMBER 1996

6. Mr. Nelson Sabogal, (Programme Officer/Scientist) of the Ozone Secretariat welcomed the members of the Bureau on behalf of the Executive Director of UNEP, Mr. Klaus Töpfer and the Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat, Mr. K.M. Sarma, stating that due to personal commitments, Mr. Sarma would not be able to participate in the meeting.

7. The Secretariat introduced its note contained in document UNEP/OzL.Conv.4/Bur.1/2, which gave a brief summary of the action it had taken to implement the decisions adopted by the last meeting of the Parties to the Vienna Convention.

8. With regard to decision IV/1, the Secretariat reported that since the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, the following new instruments of ratification had been deposited: 8 for the Vienna Convention, 9 for the Montreal Protocol, 16 for the London Amendment and 25 for the Copenhagen Amendment.

9. The Secretariat also reported that the actual status of ratification as at 30 April 1999 was as follows: Vienna Convention - 169 Parties, Montreal Protocol - 168 Parties, London Amendment - 129 Parties, Copenhagen Amendment - 88 Parties, and Montreal Amendment - 11 Parties (namely, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Panama and Saint Kitts and Nevis). The Secretariat had reminded all Parties in 1998 and 1999 of the need to ratify this Amendment. The Bureau urged all Parties to ratify the Montreal Amendment.

10. With regard to decision IV/2, the Secretariat reported that the three panels, i.e., the Scientific, Environmental Effects, Technology and Economic Assessment Panels and the seven Technical Options Committees had submitted their reports at the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999. The reports had been published and distributed to all Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. In total, they had been issued as 12 separate publications, including the synthesis report of the three panels.

11. With regard to decision IV/3, the Secretariat reported on all activities carried out in order to maintain and further develop monitoring and archiving of measurements of stratospheric and tropospheric ozone, including vertical profiles, and trace species and aerosols, and to pursue the development and implementation of new observational capacities, such as aircraft and satellite-based measurements.

12. The Secretariat had interacted with, among others, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the European Commission (EC), the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC), the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC), the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), and the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC).

13. The Bureau noted that the Secretariat had requested the Parties to report on decisions IV/3 and IV/4 of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and that several Parties had sent reports on their activities.

14. The Secretariat also reported that in concert with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Commission, the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and others, it had reviewed documents in order to increase investigations on stratospheric ozone and ultraviolet radiation.

15. With regard to the investigation into the interactions between ozone and climate and the impact of aircraft emissions, the Secretariat reported that the Scientific Assessment Panel, together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and in close coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was producing the IPCC special report Aviation and the Global Atmosphere. A joint session of IPCC working groups I and III had met in San José, Costa Rica, from 12 to 14 April 1999 to discuss the report and approved the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM), while, at its fifteenth session, held from 15 to 18 April 1999, IPCC had adopted the actions of the joint session in question and discussed the policy, scientific and technical issues for consideration in the summary report.

16. With respect to cooperation with WMO, the WMO representative, upon invitation, said that his organization was continuing work on coordinated and compatible UV-B measurements and their archiving. Progress had been achieved over the past three years in ensuring uniformity in the calculation of indexes. Further, WMO was coordinating the work of several groups which had put forward recommendations in the uniformity of calibrations. He admitted, however, that despite progress in the area, there were still no calibration facilities and because of this lack of calibration, the quality of the ozone data was deteriorating rapidly.

17. The WMO representative explained that WMO had carried out training activities in 30 different countries, involving three to four observers in each country, as well as high-level training in 12 different countries. Responding to a question on monitoring stations and training, he pointed out that bilateral training was available and that three countries already had training centres.

18. The representative of the Ozone Secretariat added that it was difficult to have monitoring stations in each country but that researchers and scientists could benefit from the data observed in neighbouring countries, compiled through the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC) located in Toronto, Canada. Furthermore, those developed and developing countries willing to provide training on the utilization of data could be approached for assistance by any of the other countries.

19. In relation to the current status of the Global Ozone Observing System (GO₃OS) and the monitoring of UV-B, the representative of WMO said that there was now better quality in data around the globe and new stations had been set up. He also pointed out, however, that the observing system was deteriorating in other parts of the world. The Bureau stressed that WMO and UNEP should develop a project for maintaining the observing system, for the purpose of verifying the implementation of the Montreal Protocol and the status of the ozone layer and ultraviolet radiation. In answer to a question on the funding needs, the representative of WMO explained that it would be in the range of $100,000 per year, i.e., $1,000,000 over the next 10 years.

20. In relation to the financial status of the WMO Trust Fund for the GO₃OS, he reported that the following contributions had been received over the last years: $100,000 from Canada, approximately $300,000 from Switzerland and $100,000 from the United States of America, all of which had been spent in accordance with the wishes of the donor countries.

21. Regarding decision IV/4, the representative of the Secretariat reported that it had been closely following the issue of contributions to the operational strategy for enabling activities, with the Global Environment Facility (GEF). No projects had been approved since the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties. So far the only project approved by GEF to support the monitoring of ozone and UV-B radiation and related research in developing countries, had been the 1993 project for Southern Cone ODS and greenhouse-gas monitoring.

22. He noted that the GEF Secretariat had put the lack of requests down to the fact that eligibility of any project proposals to GEF was determined by its operational policy framework, and the scope of GEF operations was clarified in the GEF operational strategy, which had been approved by the GEF Council in 1995. The strategy provided that financing be driven by the interests of participating countries. These were to be expressed in project proposals conforming with GEF operational goals and principles.

23. Furthermore, the operational goal of GEF in the ozone focal area was outlined in chapter five of the strategy. This was to provide short-term support for the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol in GEF recipient countries that were not eligible under the Financial Mechanism of the Protocol.

25. The Acting President of the Bureau announced that he would send a letter to the GEF Secretariat expressing concern at the lack of support for the monitoring of ozone and UV-B radiation and related research in developing countries.

26. The representative of the Secretariat added that Canada, through Environment Canada, had actively supported the implementation of decision IV/4 aimed at expanding the GO₃OS to the tropics and the southern hemisphere. Environment Canada had participated in the network meetings of the Latin America and Caribbean region on various occasions and had made presentations on UV-B radiation and its implications on human health and the environment. A number of countries of the Caribbean Ozone Network had officially applied for the installation of two UV-B radiation monitoring stations in the Caribbean (Barbados) and in Central America (Costa Rica) through Canadian assistance. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was seeking alternative financial status for monitoring projects because they featured under the Vienna Convention but not in the Protocol. CIDA supported the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. The representative of Finland informed the meeting that a proposal had been submitted to the Ibero-American Bank for improving the observation capabilities in South America.

27. The Bureau commended Canada and Finland for their efforts in supporting the monitoring of ozone and ultraviolet radiation and invited other Parties to do so.

28. The Secretariat provided a statement on the status of the Trust Fund for the Vienna Convention as at 23 April 1999, pointing out that the contributions received during 1999 for previous years and 1999 totalled $92,302, while the contributions due for previous years and 1999 totalled $1,663,282.

29. He also presented the state of contributions to the Trust Fund for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer as at 31 December 1998, 31 December 1997 and 31 December 1996.

30. Regarding decision IV/6, the Secretariat reported that the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties would be held in China on 2 and 3 December 1999. The Bureau felt that the Ozone Secretariat should arrange a joint meeting for the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol as had been done in San José, Costa Rica.

IV. REVIEW OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE
RESEARCH MANAGERS OF THE PARTIES TO THE VIENNA CONVENTION,
HELD IN GENEVA FROM 28 TO 30 APRIL 1999

31. The Bureau reviewed the recommendations of the meeting of the Research Managers of the Parties to the Convention which had ended in the same morning and which had brought together 58 participants. The representative of WMO pointed out that many countries had lamented the fact that they could not guarantee ozone measurements because of lack of funding for calibration among other things. He also stressed that the database would be weakest during the coming years, as a result of which most developing countries and countries with economies in transition would find it difficult to undertake any monitoring.

32. The Bureau noted with appreciation the recommendations of the fourth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers and expressed overall agreement with the outcome of the meeting, proposing that it be submitted to the Parties of the Convention for endorsement.

33. The Bureau noted that the fourth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers had been held in accordance with decision III/8 (Further meetings of the Ozone Research Managers).

V. OTHER MATTERS

34. The representative of the Secretariat sought advice from the members of the Bureau in relation to the second meeting of the Bureau. The Bureau agreed to hold its second meeting on 27 November 1999, in Beijing, China. The Secretariat was expected to arrange a joint meeting with the Bureau of the Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

VI. CLOSING OF THE MEETING

35. The Acting President declared the meeting closed at 5 p.m. on Friday, 30 April 1999.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS