Peter:
HCFCs are regulated under the Montreal Protocol amendments and have phase-out dates. HFCs are not ozone-depleting substances. Micronesia, USA, Mexico and Canada have proposed amending the Protocol to include them under the argument that they likely would not exist if not for the CFC and HCFC phase-outs and thus even thought they are GHG, it is still the Protocol's responsibility. They also note that since the Protocol works, it would be more effective to address them in the ozone regime than in the climate regime. The EU states and other countries support the proposed amendment. China, India, Saudi Arabia and others oppose it, saying that the Montreal Protocol cannot address non-ODS, addressing HFCs would take multilateral fund money away from finishing the HCFC and methyl bromide phase-outs and addressing ODS banks, and that putting HFCs under the ozone regime could upset the climate negotiations. This stalemate has gone on for several years in the ozone negotiations (i.e. - annual amendment proposals and debate but no consensus). Addressing the HFC loophole in climate funding would help reduce objections to addressing HFCs in one of the regimes, and proponents of addressing HFCs, including those that want to do so under Montreal, have been moving in this direction for several years. This is the discussion referred to in the article. The HFC credits discussed in the article represent a `huge moral hazard' and create a large and somewhat perverse economc incentive to oppose addressing HFCs. Those that want to deal with HFCs asap have also proposed an agreement or statement of some type under the UNFCCC umbrella giving the go ahead to the ozone regime to address but this has also been blocked. David --------------------------------------------------------- David Downie Director, Program on the Environment Associate Professor of Politics Fairfield University 217 Donnarumma Hall 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 [email protected]; 203-254-4000, ext 3504 http://www.amazon.com/David-L.-Downie/e/B004APYFPC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2 ________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Peter Haas [[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 11:31 AM To: GEP-ED Subject: [gep-ed] Regime complexes on ozone and climate change can anybody please explain the details of this issue to me? I thought that HFCs were regulated under the Montreal Protocol amendments? http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/31/us-un-climate-idUSBRE87U0RQ20120831 Peter M. Haas Professor Department of Political Science 216 Thompson Hall UMASS - Amherst
