Opening remarks by Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme.
Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen
Allow me first to extend my deep appreciation to the President of COP11, Ms. Nicole Folliet and to the President of MOP31, the Honorable Mr. Martin Alvin Da Breo, for their tireless leadership in support of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol.
I also wish to express a warm welcome to the incoming COP11 President Cheikh Sylla of Senegal and the MOP32 President Paul Krajnik of Austria. I thank you both for taking on this leadership and wish to assure you that we at UNEP will do all we can to ensure strong and continued support to the Convention and the Protocol.
Allow me also to congratulate the Parties for convening this online global meeting. Indeed, it is a testament to your commitment that today we have 700 participants from 198 Parties and other stakeholders registered to participate in these meetings.
The agenda before you is, in view of the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves, restricted to essential items for decision by the Parties.
As you know, these items include amongst others:
- authorizing the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund (MLF) to use unspent funds from the current 2018-2020 fiscal period in 2021, pending the replenishment decision to be taken in 2021 when face-to-face meeting will hopefully become possible; critical use exemptions for methyl bromide is also on your desk, as required by 4 parties in 2021 and 2022;
- the budgets for Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol Trust Funds for 2020 and 2021; and finally
- membership in Montreal Protocol bodies in 2021, including in the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).
So as you set out to confer on these matters, allow me to say a word on your impressive commitments and accomplishments. Despite the difficult challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to us all, with your commitment, with your hard work, you have been able to continue the important work of the Convention and Protocol. This is well worth noting.
Indeed, much progress has been achieved of which you can be rightly proud. A number of online meetings have been held, including:
- the July online session of the Open-ended Working Group on replenishment;
- the 65th meeting of the Implementation Committee;
- the October online Ozone Research Managers meeting on gaps in monitoring; and, of course
- the Bureau meeting of both the MOP and the COP.
In parallel, the Assessment Panels have also produced excellent work:
- TEAP has prepared reports on replenishment, methyl bromide critical use evaluation, and energy efficiency;
- SAP has been working on the CFC-11 report; and
- EEAP has continued working on the ozone layer and climate change impacts on health and environment.
So much work has happened, and I am both impressed and inspired that this has occurred despite the challenges that 2020 has brought.
As we mark the 35th anniversary of the Vienna Convention, let us also recall and pay tribute to Professor Mario Molina who passed away on October 7. Losing a great leader and champion of ozone and climate protection was a shock to the ozone community. In mourning his passing, we also celebrate his contribution and reflect on the history of the science and of the scientists on whose shoulders all this work stands.
As we all know in the environmental sphere, sound science is an essential basis for policy and decision making. In the context of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol, this is abundantly clear.
Let us recall Mario Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland and Paul Crutzen who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their research on the destruction of the ozone layer. The first step in the efforts to protect the ozone layer was the scientific research findings in 1974 that informed us that man-made chemicals, CFCs, could be destroying the ozone layer. It was Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland that published a paper in 1974, hypothesizing that CFCs destroy the stratospheric ozone, and they who called for a complete ban on CFC released into the atmosphere.
Much work followed, and in 1985 the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was agreed. As we all know, the Vienna Convention is a framework convention for international cooperation with a focus on science. Two years later the Montreal Protocol was adopted in 1987.
Building on the science and framing agreed global action on the basis of this science have been the core work ever since, and it is worthwhile for us to take stock of, and appreciate, the extraordinary science that this group of committed nations has enabled to be produced.
The three Assessment Panels carry out comprehensive assessments and Parties rely on their findings to strengthen the provisions, policies and actions under the Montreal Protocol.
Recently, when unexpected emissions of CFC-11, a chemical that was already phased out globally, were detected by scientists, the discussions which ensued demonstrated to us that the Montreal Protocol works:
- science detected problems;
- relevant Parties are taking appropriate action;
- emissions are decreasing; and
- Parties are looking into strengthening the Protocol to avoid future occurrences.
So, looking ahead, we will continue to rely on the rigor and vigilance of scientists and researchers as this will be key for the continued success of the Montreal Protocol.
Allow me to turn to another massive accomplishment well worth noting - the Kigali Amendment. This unique Amendment on the phase-down of HFCs is a critical instrument in our combat of climate change.
We all know that HFCs have a high global warming potential. It has been estimated that full implementation of the Kigali Amendment could prevent up to 0.4 degrees Centigrade of warming by 2100. Further, phasing down of HFCs through energy efficiency enhancements in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment could also bring significant additional climate benefits. And we are already seeing considerable successes. Non-Article 5 parties to the Kigali Amendment were required to reduce their production and consumption of controlled HFCs by 10% and this has already been accomplished.
We are proud that as of 26 November 2020, 112 parties to the Montreal Protocol had ratified the Kigali Amendment. I urge all Parties that have not yet ratified the Kigali Amendment to do so to ensure that the Amendment gets universal ratification.
Finally, I cannot speak to you all today without expressing my deep appreciation to the former Executive Secretary, Ms. Tina Birmpili. As you all know, Ms. Birmpili left the Ozone Secretariat on 30 September 2020 to take up new appointment as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, from 1 October 2020.
Ms. Birmpili joined the Ozone Secretariat in November 2013. This was when Parties to the Montreal Protocol were involved in intense negotiations to amend the Protocol to include HFCs. Under your leadership, Ms. Birmpili steered those negotiations and we can pay tribute to her for her hard work, which to you adopting the Kigali Amendment in October 2016. During Ms. Birmpili’s tenure, the Ozone Secretariat also updated its data reporting system, moving it online. Further, the Secretariat enhanced digital assets to facilitate the work of stakeholders of the Ozone Treaties. These are all important achievements.
Let me also extend my appreciation to Ms. Megumi Seki for agreeing to take on the Acting Executive Secretary role while the competitive recruitment process is being undertaken. I expect this process to be completed by early 2021.
In closing, once more, I extend my deep appreciation to the outgoing presidents for all your hard work, and to the incoming presidents for your future leadership. Rest assured that we at UNEP will do all that we can to support the Ozone Secretariat as it deploys its functions to ensure that the important work toward protecting the ozone layer remains a high priority.
I wish you the very best in your deliberations and thank you for the opportunity to address you.
Thank you.
Executive Director
