RMI President Speaks to UN

Click here to listen to RMI President Litokwa Tomeing address the UN General Assembly about the effect of Climate Change on the islands of the Marshalls:

http://www.un.org/ga/64/generaldebate/MH.shtml

Pacific Island Leaders Plea for UN Climate Action

Island Nations in the Pacific are Reaching Out to the Countries of the World, Requesting That We All Do Our Part to Help Save Their Lands.

Many spoke at the UN yesterday:

President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Litokwa Tomeing
Prime Minister of Vanuatu Edward Natapei
Deputy Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Fred Fono
Tonga's Prime Minister Doctor Fred Sevele
President Marcus Stephen of Nauru
President Johnson Toribiong of Palau
Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama
Emmanuel Mori, the President of the Federated States of Micronesia
Kiribati President, Anote Tong

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Momentum Grows to Limit Climate-Warming Chemicals

FSM, leading the way...

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Momentum Grows to Limit Climate-Warming Chemicals

Ben Block, 21 Sep 09

The United States, Canada, and Mexico issued a joint proposal last week to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term by phasing out a chemical previously favored in efforts to heal the ozone layer.

When world leaders reached an agreement in 1987 to shrink the ozone hole growing in the atmosphere above Antarctica, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were chosen as a cost-effective replacement for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances found in refrigerators, foams, and flame retardants.

HFCs have since been identified as greenhouse gases with global warming potentials as much as 11,700 times greater than carbon dioxide. Short-term emissions reduction targets could quickly be met, however, if vehicle air-conditioning units and other HFC-emitting technologies were required to become more efficient or to use alternative chemicals.

The three North American countries are proposing that all countries reduce their HFC consumption and production, noting that industrialized nations would need to lead the effort.

"Phasing down consumption and production of HFCs will send an important signal about the need for alternatives that pose no problem either for the ozone layer or for the climate system," a U.S. State Department statement said.

The proposal is identical to a suggestion that the island nations of Mauritius and the Federal States of Micronesia have submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The two countries propose that the Montreal Protocol, the international agreement developed to limit ozone depleting substances, be expanded to limit HFCs.

"With the joint proposal by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, we now have the muscle to move the Montreal Protocol amendment," said Yosiwo George, the Micronesian ambassador to the United States, in a prepared statement.

The two proposals could generate policy changes as early as November, when governments meet in Port Ghalib, Egypt, to negotiate future requirements of the Montreal Protocol. Leaders will convene again in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December to form a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which limits greenhouse gas emissions.

As demand for air conditioning and refrigeration increases globally and as countries accelerate their efforts to phase out ozone-depleting substances, producers of cooling equipment will turn increasingly to HFCs unless suitable alternatives can be identified.

Scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated earlier this year that by 2050, HFCs could contribute as much as 12 percent of the warming effect of greenhouse gas emissions. HFCs currently contribute less than 1 percent to climate change.

The ozone layer limits harmful solar radiation from entering the lower atmosphere serving as a crucial safety net for life on Earth. Scientists discovered in the early 1980s that industrial chemicals, mainly CFC refrigerants and solvents, were being released into the atmosphere where they triggered a chemical reaction that consumed ozone, weakening the protective ozone layer.

The Montreal Protocol is considered one of the most successful multilateral environmental agreements to date. By December, it will have effectively retired nearly 100 ozone-depleting substances. The Antarctic ozone hole, which currently spans some 24 million square kilometers, is expected to be smaller in 2009 than last year, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The Montreal Protocol also recently became the first environmental agreement to receive worldwide participation. Timor-Leste became the final signatory when Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão announced on Wednesday that his country would ratify the protocol.

Several world leaders greeted Timo-Leste's participation, which occurred on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, as a positive sign for reducing ozone-depleting substances and HFCs.

"I very much welcome the news that the Montreal Protocol has finally achieved the universal recognition it deserves," said European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, in a statement.

"The progress the protocol has achieved in protecting both the ozone layer and the global climate shows that worldwide consensus on exceptionally important environmental issues is achievable."

Ben Block is a staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.

This article is a product of Eye on Earth, Worldwatch Institute's online news service.


Shared via AddThis

Getting HFCs out of the Montreal Protocol

North America backs plan to cut greenhouse gases

By JOHN HEILPRIN (AP) – 14 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS — Small island nations gained North America's powerful backing Tuesday for a plan to convert the U.N. ozone treaty into a tool for phasing out some of the globe's most powerful climate-warming gases.

The Obama administration announced the United States, Canada and Mexico now support using the treaty to require cuts in powerful greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. The treaty, called the Montreal Protocol, was signed by 195 nations to fix the globe's ozone layer.

In its current version, the treaty encourages using HFCs in refrigerators and air conditioners to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which have now been virtually eliminated.

But in April, Micronesia and Mauritius proposed formally amending the treaty to phase out use of the coolants. They argued that other chemicals would be better for the climate while still helping the ozone layer.

The U.S. State Department called that plan Thursday "a significant down payment" on efforts to reach a new global climate pact in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. President Barack Obama is attending a U.N. climate summit next week to build momentum.

"Once adopted, the proposal would make great strides to achieve President Obama's call to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 as well as contribute to multilateral efforts to reduce global emissions 50 percent by 2050," the State Department said.

The U.S. said the proposal "calls on all countries to take action to reduce their consumption and production of HFCs, although developed countries would take the lead in this effort, as they have consistently under the Montreal Protocol."

Nations will consider whether to alter the Montreal Protocol at a meeting in Egypt in November.

Though HFCs account for only about 2 percent of the globe's climate-warming gases, their share is expected to grow by up to a third of all greenhouse gases by mid-century — mainly because of their promotion under the ozone treaty.

A global fund affiliated with the treaty has invested billions in creating new markets for HFCs and other chemicals that do not harm the protective ozone layer above the earth.

But Micronesia has called that promotion "irresponsible," since HFCs, like CFCs, are powerful climate-warming chemicals — up to 10,000 times more so than carbon dioxide — other climate and ozone-friendly alternatives are available for use.

The Associated Press first reported in early May that the Obama administration considered HFCs "a very significant threat" to climate change and probably would seek to use the ozone treaty to dramatically reduce HFCs, but not phase them out entirely.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry applauded the Obama administration Tuesday and described the decision as a sign of things to come from the U.S.

"Anyone who doubted the intentions of the new administration should pay close attention to this announcement and to those of us in the Senate who urged this ambitious action under the Montreal Protocol," Kerry said. The proposal, he said, "sends another clear signal to the global community that the United States will not remain on the sidelines and will lead efforts to achieve a strong agreement in Copenhagen.'"'

It is uncertain whether the Senate will pass climate legislation in time for the Copenhagen climate talks, but Kerry said the ozone treaty was another appropriate tool for tackling the urgency of planetary overheating.

In April, Kerry and another leading Democrat, Senate Environment Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer wrote Obama calling for using the ozone treaty to phase down HFCs by 85 percent by 2030.

"The growth projections of HFCs alone better be a wakeup call to anyone still left in Congress who doubts the urgent need to address climate change," Kerry said. "If allowed to grow, this extremely potent greenhouse gas could counteract global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.