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Shifts major mitigation burden to other willing venues to slow near-term warming

The UN climate discussions in Lima crossed the finish line at a few minutes past 3AM this morning, with all countries agreeing to shoulder climate commitments in an agreement to be finalized in Paris next December, but with commitments that will be of their own choosing.

“The Lima agreement sets the table for Paris, but the deal will be meager indeed unless it is expanded to include fast mitigation from other available laws and institutions outside of the UN process,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, who attended the negotiations in Lima.

“Getting all countries on board is historic. But the commitments so far will be modest from many countries and collectively insufficient to prevent the growing climate crisis. This shifts a major mitigation burden to other available laws and institutions to shoulder, including the Montreal Protocol, which is ready to eliminate one of the six main greenhouse gases. It also means that the broad UN platform will have to get stronger quickly as countries learn how to reduce their emissions.”

The UN climate process has been unable to motivate countries to show sufficient ambition to solve the fast growing climate challenge and keep temperatures from rising beyond the 2°C guardrail above pre-industrial levels. Nonetheless, the 2015 agreement will be an important platform that allows parties to get started in 2020, when the agreement would go into effect. “A start-and-strengthen approach is far better than the slow dance we’ve been doing around the world these past many years,” Zaelke said.

“Accepting the limits of the future UN climate agreement puts the spotlight on initiatives that can bring home additional mitigation, especially in the gap up to 2020,” said Zaelke. “We could lose the game by 2020 without immediate mitigation to complement the future climate agreement. The need for speed is imperative, and the UN climate agreement is clearly not going to provide it on its own.”

“The biggest and fastest near-term mitigation opportunity is to cut ‘short-lived climate pollutants’—black carbon, methane and tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs,” Zaelke said. “Cutting these pollutants using existing technologies and existing laws and institutions can cut the rate of warming in half, and in the Arctic by two- thirds in the near-term. This will avoid up to 0.6°C of warming by 2050, compared to avoided warming of 0.1°C at mid-century through an ambitious effort to cut CO2. By end of century, cutting the short-lived climate pollutants can avoid up to 1.5°C of warming, comparable to aggressive CO2 mitigation.” Zaelke quoted from a publication he wrote with Nobel Laureate Mario Molina and Professor V. Ramanathan, at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, “As Climate Impacts Accelerate, Speed of Mitigation Becomes Key,” See also Figure on next page.

“HFCs can be phased down next year under the Montreal Protocol, which has already phased out nearly 100 similar fluorinated gases by nearly 100%,” Zaelke said. “This would provide the equivalent of between 100 and 200 billion tonnes of CO2 in mitigation, with further mitigation from improvements in energy efficiency of air conditioners and other appliances as they shift to climate friendly refrigerants to replace HFCs.”

President Obama’s climate détente with President Xi of China started with a series of agreements on HFCs negotiated with President Xi, beginning last June at their first meeting in Sunnylands California, where the two presidents also agreed to work together on North Korea. More recently President Obama reached agreement with Prime Minister Modi of India to use the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs. At the annual Meeting of Parties last month in Paris, donor countries agreed to put $507.5 million into the Montreal Protocol’s dedicated funding mechanism, and to hold an extra meeting next April to address HFCs, along with the regular meetings in July and November 2015.

“Success phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol next year in November will provide further momentum for success with the climate negotiations in Paris in December,” Zaelke said. “The fastest road to Paris goes through Montreal.”

“President Obama deserves credit for moving climate protection to the leader level, where it belongs along side other national security issues. He also deserves credit for pioneering an approach that embraces complementary mitigation

opportunities, including the Montreal Protocol and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.” The Coalition was started by the U.S. and a small group of allies two years ago, and now with 100 partners, including nearly 50 countries, divided fairly evenly between developing and developed.

Signaling the growing importance of the short-lived climate pollutants at the Lima negotiations, more than thirteen events highlighted the importance of fast action to cut these pollutants. Zaelke spoke at several, including at Potent pollutants: Addressing Near-term Climate Change Through SLCPs, and at another at the Peruvian Supreme Court.

IGSD’s Primer on HFCs is here.

SLCP

Source: Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (2014) TIME TO ACT, at 22.

Leader level participation in climate policy set stage for progress in Lima

As UN climate discussions in Lima move toward their conclusion, there is a sense that the parties will produce a draft compilation of elements as the basis for negotiating a final agreement, largely because they have no choice if they want to conclude an agreement next December in Paris.

There is also a growing acceptance that at its best, the UN climate process will not be able to motivate sufficient ambition to solve the fast growing climate challenge and keep temperatures from rising beyond the 2°C guardrail above pre-industrial levels. The 2015 agreement will be a platform that allows parties to get started in 2020, when the agreement would go into effect. Some parties will start earlier and will include stretch goals, but many others are likely to stick with more modest goals that they can be confident of achieving.

“Accepting the limits of the future climate treaty puts the spotlight on complementary initiatives that can bring home additional mitigation, especially in the gap up to 2020,” according to Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, speaking at an event in Lima. “We could lose the game by 2020 without immediate mitigation to complement the future climate agreement. The need for speed is imperative, and the climate agreement is clearly not going to provide it.”

“The biggest and fastest near-term mitigation is to cut ‘short-lived climate pollutants’—black carbon, methane and tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs,” Zaelke said. “Cutting these pollutants using existing technologies and existing laws and institutions can cut the rate of warming in half, and in the Arctic by two-thirds in the near-term. This will avoid up to 0.6°C of warming by 2050, compared to avoided warming of 0.1°C at mid-century through an ambitious effort to cut CO2. By end of century, cutting the short-lived climate pollutants can avoid up to 1.5°C of warming, comparable to aggressive CO2 mitigation.” Zaelke quoted from a publication he wrote with Nobel Laureate Mario Molina and Professor V. Ramanathan, at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, “As Climate Impacts Accelerate, Speed of Mitigation Becomes Key,” See also Figure on next page.

“HFCs can be phased down next year under the Montreal Protocol, which has already phased out nearly 100 similar fluorinated gases by nearly 100% over its 27 years of operation,” Zaelke added. “This would provide the equivalent of between 100 and 200 billion tonnes of CO2 in mitigation by essentially eliminating one of the six main greenhouse gases. Further mitigation would come from the improvements in energy efficiency the air conditioners and other appliances as they shift to climate friendly substitutes for HFCs.”

President Obama’s climate détente with President Xi of China started with a series of agreements on HFCs negotiated with President Xi, beginning last June at their first meeting in Sunnylands California, where they also agreed to work together on North Korea. More recently President Obama also reached agreement with Prime Minister Modi of India to use the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs. At the annual Meeting of Parties last month in Paris, donor countries agreed to put $507.5 million into the Montreal Protocol’s dedicated funding mechanism, and to hold an extra meeting next April to address HFCs, along with the regular meetings in July and November 2015.

“Success phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol next year in November will provide further momentum for success with the climate negotiations in Paris in December,” Zaelke said. “The fastest way to Paris goes through Montreal.”

“President Obama deserves credit for moving climate protection to the leader level, where it belongs along side other national security issues. He also deserves credit for pioneering an approach that embraces complementary mitigation opportunities, including the Montreal Protocol and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.” The Coalition was started by the U.S. and a small group of allies two years ago, and now with 100 partners, including nearly 50 countries, divided fairly evenly between developing and developed.”

Signaling the growing recognition of the importance of the short-lived climate pollutants at COP 20, more than thirteen events highlighted the importance of fast action to cut these pollutants. Zaelke spoke at several, including at Potent pollutants: Addressing Near-term Climate Change Through SLCPs, and at another at the Peruvian Supreme Court.

IGSD’s Primer on HFCs is here.

 SLCP

Source: Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (2014) TIME TO ACT, at 22.

Path forward to eliminate HFCs, major climate pollutant

Parties to the Montreal Protocol continued to make progress in their negotiations to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), used primarily as refrigerants and to make insulating foams, opening a path to avoid the equivalent of up to 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from these fast-growing greenhouse gases by 2050, and to avoid 0.5°C of warming by 2100.

“We turned a corner in Paris with China and India indicating their willingness to consider how to move forward to discuss the proposed HFC phase down”, said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “The world’s two biggest countries have moved onto the winning team, and this means that the HFC amendment is now inevitable. India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar brought new ideas and new energy to the meeting, and will clearly be one of the leaders going forward next year on the HFC amendment.”

A unique collection of countries representing a majority of the world population and HFC consumers and producers, including China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, along with the European Union and the United States, have called for fast action to cut production and use of HFCs, the fastest growing greenhouse gas in the world, using the institutions and expertise of the Montreal Protocol, while leaving accounting and reporting of emissions within the UN climate treaty. In total, more than 120 countries have called for action to phase down HFCs.

Noting the September 30th agreement between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi of India to cooperate on the phase down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, India’s Environment Minister Javadekar called for clear roles for developed and developing countries, with different phase down schedules.

A late-night effort by the United States to provide a path forward next year stalled when a few countries objected that they did not have enough time to study the US proposal. India proposed further constructive changes, but the chair ruled that time had run out a minute before midnight.

Nevertheless, a critical agreement was reached when the Parties agreed to replenish the Multilateral Fund with $507.5 million over the next three years, a record amount that reassured the developing countries that the full agreed incremental costs would be paid for the current phase down of HCFCs. The Multilateral Fund is the Montreal Protocol’s dedicated funding mechanism, which pays the agreed incremental costs for developing country parties to move to the climate friendly substitutes. The Multilateral Fund has provided more than $3 billion to date to support the phase down of nearly 100 chemicals that damage the stratospheric ozone layer and warm the climate, by nearly 100%.

The success of the Montreal Protocol has put the stratospheric ozone layer on the path of recovery by 2065, and provided climate mitigation equivalent to a net of 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is five to ten times more than the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty has provided to date.

Phasing down HFCs will provide the equivalent of up to 146 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050, and avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100. A fast phase down by 2020 will provide additional mitigation, equivalent to up to 64 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. “This is the only climate strategy where all the major countries of the world are lining up on the same side,” said Durwood Zaelke. “As Segolene Royal, the French Environment Minister, said in her opening remarks this week, the road to a successful climate treaty in Paris next December runs through Montreal—although we’re running out of time to get the job done.”

IGSD’s Primer on HFCs is here.

Ministers Highlight Importance of Controlling Fastest Growing Greenhouse Gas

As the fourth day of the 26th Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol comes to a close, a unique collection of countries, including China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, along with the European Union and the United States, are calling for fast action to cut production and use of HFCs, the fastest growing greenhouse gas in the world, using the institutions and expertise of the Montreal Protocol, while leaving accounting and reporting of emissions within the UN climate treaty. In total, more than 120 countries have called for action to cut HFCs.

President Obama negotiated a separate agreement with President Xi of China last week and Prime Minister Modi of India on 30 September to cooperate on the phase down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.The parties are continuing to discuss when to start formal negotiations on the proposed amendment to cut the HFCs, with a group of oil-producing countries still struggling to accept the need for fast action on HFCs, and expressing concern that the alternatives to the HFCs may not work as efficiently in the air conditioners in their countries during the hot season, when temperatures can reach 50°C.

The parties are also negotiating the three-year replenishment for the Multilateral Fund, the Montreal Protocol’s dedicated funding mechanism, which pays the agreed incremental costs for developing country parties to move to the climate friendly substitutes. The last replenishment three years ago was $450 million, and a similar amount is expected this year. Negotiations will conclude tomorrow, Friday the 21st of November. The Multilateral Fund has provided more than $3 billion to date to support the phase down of nearly 100 chemicals that damage the stratospheric ozone layer and warm the climate, by nearly 100%.

The success of the Montreal Protocol has put the stratospheric ozone layer on the path of recovery by 2065. It also has provided climate mitigation equivalent to a net of 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is five to ten times more than the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty has provided to date.

Phasing down HFCs will provide the equivalent of up to 146 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050, and avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100. A fast phase down by 2020 will provide additional mitigation, equivalent to up to 64 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

“This is the only climate strategy where all the major countries of the world are lining up on the same side,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, who is attending the negotiations in Paris. “As Segolene Royal, the French Environment Minister, said in her opening remarks this week, the road to a successful climate treaty in Paris next December runs through Montreal.”

World’s top two climate polluters agree on fast action to cut short and long-lived emissions

“President Obama’s historic agreement today with President Xi in China is the kind of bold action needed to reinvigorate the world’s efforts to slow and eventually reverse climate pollution before the most severe climate impacts become irreversible”, said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a global think tank.”President Obama might just save the world from the worst of climate impacts with his leadership on climate protection.”

The US-China agreement has the three key elements for setting the planet on the path to climate safety: fast action to cut short-lived climate pollutants, starting with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), fast action to cut carbon dioxide emissions, the main long-lived climate pollutant, and the beginning of action to manage carbon dioxide after it has been emitted, through an ambitious plan to develop carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), for example by capturing carbon dioxide at the smoke stack and turning it into cement-like building material.

President Obama understands the need to build political momentum at the global level to bring out the ‘A game’ of the other large emitters, and this agreement between the number one and number two leading climate polluters will do that. The president’s leadership started at home, which gave him the renewed credibility needed to return to the global stage.

For the past two years President Obama has been leading the global effort to control HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, the world’s most successful climate treaty. US-China cooperation has been the cornerstone of the President Obama’s efforts, starting with the first meeting between the two leaders in Sunnylands, California in June of last year, which resulted in agreement to work together to reduce HFCs, and to cooperate on North Korea.

The leadership on the HFC amendment by President Obama and President Xi sets the stage to conclude the biggest, fastest piece of climate mitigation available to the world in the near-term by phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol. There is growing enthusiasm this can be done in advance of the UN climate negotiations in Paris next December, where UN negotiators aim to conclude a broad-based global climate agreement. Controlling HFCs can provide ten to twelve percent of the climate mitigation the world needs to keep the climate within safe bounds. The total climate mitigation is significantly more when benefits are included from improving the energy efficiency of the air conditioners and other appliances that use HFCs, as this cuts CO2 emissions from power plants.

“President Obama understands that the road to Paris now goes through Montreal”, Zaelke said.

The annual meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol is next week in Paris.

FACT SHEET: U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change and Clean Energy Cooperation is here.

Huffington Post Blog is here.

IGSD’s Primer on Hydrofluorocarbons is here.

Short-lived Climate Pollutants Most Important Through 2030

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, reaffirms that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the primary driver of long-term temperature, and underlines the importance of immediate and parallel action to address emissions of both CO2 and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to effectively combat near- and long-term climate change.

The study highlights linkages between mitigation measures, noting that many measures such as reducing emissions from the burning of fossil fuels can eliminate emissions of both CO2 and some SLCPs, such as black carbon. According to the study, as much as 65% of energy-related black carbon emissions are linked to CO2-emitting fossil fuel sources, potentially allowing for dual reductions from CO2 mitigation measures from these sources. However, the study notes that linkages do not exist in all cases, such as with hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) refrigerants, which need to be addressed separately.

“The science has always told us that we need to immediately address both short-lived and long-lived climate pollutants to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” stated Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “Parallel strategies to quickly cut both groups of pollutants are critical for success; however, measures to reduce short-lived and long-lived climate pollutants often exist as independent political opportunities with different near- and long-term benefits, economics, and politics. Some SLCP mitigation measures, such as those undertaken by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, are often politically easier to implement and rapidly scale-up, due to their multiple benefits for human health, ecosystems, and the climate.”

“It is important to remember that the success of SLCPs builds the political momentum we need to ultimately succeed with CO2 and win the battle against climate change,” added Zaelke. “This study explains how action on CO2 will reduce SLCPs, but it’s important to remember that the reverse is also true: that reducing SLCPs reduces CO, even in the case of HFCs. Past phaseouts of refrigerants that the HFCs are now replacing have catalyzed energy efficiency improvements in air conditioners and other appliances on the order of 30 to 60%, providing significant CO2 mitigation, given that up to half of all electricity in the hottest countries goes to air conditioning.”

SLCPs include black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and HFCs, which have a lifespan in the atmosphere of 15 years or less. Previous research over the past several decades concludes that cutting SLCPs could significantly cut the current rate of warming through 2050, and because many SLCPs are also powerful air pollutants, reductions can also prevent more than two million deaths a year from air pollution and avoid around 50 million tonnes of crop losses annually.

While the new paper questions how much the SLCPs can help beyond 2030, Zaelke notes that “the world will win or lose the climate game before 2030 by setting off uncountable feedback mechanisms, and in this critical window it’s essential to cut SLCPs, along with CO2. The IPCC’s new Summary for Policymakers makes it clear that we’re running out of time.” Climate negotiators are aiming for a new climate treaty by the end of 2015, to go into effect in 2020.

Professor V. Ramanathan, at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, a leading authority on SLCPs since the 1970s, added the following quotes on the new paper:

“The reduction in warming obtained by the Rogelj et al. study due to reductions in concentrations of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) is about 1°C by the end of the century, which is consistent with the findings of the earlier Ramanathan and Xu (2010) study. Thus reduction of SLCPs, including HFCs, will have a substantial long-term cooling effect.

The issue raised by the paper is not about the need to reduce SLCPs, but more about how to mitigate SLCPs. Rogelj et al. argue CO2 measures will accomplish most of the needed reductions in SLCPs, assuming that we can succeed in immediately reducing fossil fuel CO2 emissions. This recommendation requires careful scrutiny. For example, black carbon and other particulates from the transportation sector can be cut by more than 90% by off-the-shelf technologies (ultra low sulphur diesel fuel with diesel particulate filter) as demonstrated by California and other states. Mitigating the emission of one ton of black carbon from diesel vehicles has the same effect as mitigating 1000 to 2000 tons of CO2 (on a 100 year time scale). In addition, emissions of particulates and ozone precursors are important sources of ambient air pollution, which is responsible for about 4 million premature deaths annually. They are also major sources of ozone, which destroys over 100 million tons of crops each year. Rogelj et al, perhaps came to their conclusion, because of the neglect of co-benefits of SLCPs to human health and food security. Reductions in SLCPs should be considered as complementary to reductions in CO2 emissions.

A ‘no-regrets’ policy would take advantage of political opportunities to cut SLCPs as soon as possible to save the millions of lives that are at stake and hundreds of millions of tons of crops that are damaged each year by SLCPs — losses that could feed over 500 million people living in extreme poverty while slowing down climate change. Just this week, a study in PNAS concluded that approximately 36% of wheat crops are damaged every year by SLCPs in India.”

Joeri Rogelj, et al., Disentangling the effects of CO2 and short-lived climate forcer mitigation, PNAS (2014) is here.

Jennifer Burney and V. Ramanathan, Recent climate and air pollution impacts on Indian agriculture, PNAS (2014) is here.

IGSD’s Primer on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants is here & IGSD Primer on Hydrofluorocarbons is here.

Two days after the historic People’s Climate March, more than 100 heads of State met the challenge from the Secretary General to step up their climate mitigation actions.  A key outcome of the UN Climate Summit was the prominence of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-lived Climate pollutants, and their bold ambition to cut the rate of climate change in half through the end of the century by cutting black carbon, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This also will save more than two and a half million lives a year, and improve crop yields significantly.

The CCAC announced a series of initiatives ranging from a partnership with oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions, to a pledge to support an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs. In his address to the Summit today, President Obama described the US efforts including an HFC amendment, and noted that, “Already more than 100 nations have agreed to launch talks to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.  The same agreement the world used successfully to phase out ozone depleting chemicals.  This is something that President Xi and I have worked on together.  Just a few minutes ago I met with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and reiterated my belief that as the two largest economies and emitters in the world we have a special responsibility to lead.  That is what big nations have to do.”

In a study published in The Economist this week the Montreal Protocol was ranked the most effective of all past climate mitigation strategies, having done more to curb warming than almost all other strategies ranked in the top 20 combined, including China’s one child policy and the fall of the USSR. The Economist also concluded that phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is the quickest way to cut climate emissions.

“Phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is the single biggest, fastest, and most effective near-term climate strategy, capable of doing 10 to 20%of all the mitigation needed to stay below the 2°C guardrail for disastrous climate impacts,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, and a speaker at the Summit today.  “Phasing down HFCs also is critical for building momentum for a strong UN climate treaty in Paris in 2015,” Zaelke added. “The road to Paris goes through Montreal.”

The CCAC also announced a complementary private sector effort by the Global Cold Food Chain Council to promote climate-friendly alternatives and enhance energy efficiency, with a goal of reducing global emissions by up 30-50% within 10 years.  New and tangible efforts to reduce these pollutants in oil and gas production, freight transportation and municipal solid waste were also announced by the CCAC and will be implemented in collaboration with governments, civil society, and intergovernmental partners.

Additionally, UNEP announced a new initiative to accelerate the transition of energy-efficient appliance and equipment, including lighting, air conditioners, refrigerators, electric motors, ceiling fans and distributions transformers in an effort to reduce global electricity consumption by more than 10%, saving $350 billion USD annually and reducing global CO2 emissions by 1.25 billion tons per year.

“The citizens’ march and the mitigation initiatives announced today will be remembered as a historic turning point in the effort to slow climate change—provided the world follows through with a strong treaty in Paris in 2015, said Zaelke.

IGSD’s Primer on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants is here; its Primer on Hydrofluorocarbons is here.

On the eve of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit, ministers and vice ministers meeting at the High Level Assembly (HLA) of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) agreed to expand their fast action strategies to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, including black carbon soot, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs.

The High Level Assembly also agreed to extend the CCAC’s mandate until at least 2020, recognizing the CCAC’s important efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change and air pollution. The High Level Assembly also agreed to develop a five year strategic plan to move the CCAC’s efforts to global scale, in order to cut the rate of climate change in half through mid-century and achieve the full potential of cutting short-lived climate pollutants. The CCAC welcomed several new partners, including the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, a transgovernmental network of more than 4,000 compliance and enforcement officials from more than 150 countries. The CCAC now has nearly 100 partners, dived between governments, NGOs, and international organizations, including WMO, WHO, UNEP and the World Bank.

Cutting the short-lived climate pollutants can avoid warming of up to 0.6° Celsius by midcentury and up to 1.5° Celsius by 2100, while saving millions of lives a year and improving crop yields and food security.

“Cutting the short-lived climate pollutants is critical for climate protection,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development and a partner in the CCAC. “We can’t return to a safe climate without getting rid of these pollutants, along with carbon dioxide. The CCAC’s success is proving that sustainable development and climate mitigation can be achieved together and can be done now.”

The UN Climate Summit is designated to encourage countries to increase their climate ambition in advance of the UNFCCC’s annual negotiating session in December in Lima, Peru. The CCAC will play a central role at the Summit tomorrow announcing a series of initiatives including reducing short-lived climate pollutants in oil and gas production, freight transportation, industries using hydrofluorocarbons, and municipal solid waste disposal in a joint effort with governments, corporations and NGOs to achieve fast mitigation. The HLA has already agreed to phase down HFCs, the fastest growing climate pollutants in China, India and the U.S., under the Montreal Protocol, and will reiterate this pledge as part of the CCAC initiatives at the Summit.

CCAC’s Press release is here.

IGSD’s Primer on Hydrofluorocarbons is here.

Washington, DC, 16 September, 2014 – In an event hosted by the White House today, a group of industry leaders made pledges to protect the environment by reducing emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), powerful greenhouse gases that are up to 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide and helping to drive climate change. Participants including Coca Cola, Dupont, Honeywell, Thermal King and Unilever revealed their partnership with the Administration to invest in the next generation of safer HFC alternatives and to incorporate climate-friendly technologies into their products as a part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

Today also marks 27 years of the Montreal Protocol, deemed “International Day for Preservation of the Ozone Layer” by the United Nations Environment Programme, this year’s theme is entitled “Ozone Layer Protection: The Mission Goes On.”

“While the Montreal Protocol has achieved great success providing climate protection thus far, finishing the HFC amendment will avoid the equivalent of between 100 and 200 billion tons of CO2 by 2050, and avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century,” says Dr. Stephen O. Andersen, former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) liaison to the Department of Defense (DOD) for climate and ozone, and former co-chair of the Technology & Economic Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol. “This is another important step by the White House in their effort to capture the biggest climate prize in near term by the phasing down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, a strategy now supported by over 100 countries.”

Additional efforts to reduce HFCs will be announced at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York City next week, an event intended to catalyze ambitious commitments to phase down HFCs and other short-lived climate pollutants as part of the UN climate treaty that is expected to be concluded in December 2015 and go into effect in 2020.

“The Montreal Protocol has shown that decisive action by the international community, including the private sector, can achieve transformative results for the common good,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Let us learn from this example and apply its lesson to the urgent task of addressing the climate challenge.”

IGSD’s Primer on HFCs is here.

The White House HFC Fact Sheet is here.

World’s best environmental treaty puts stratospheric ozone layer on path to recovery,

Protects climate more than climate treaty

Washington, DC, 10 September 2014 – A report to be released today by the Scientific Assessment Panel (SAP) of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer confirms that the Montreal Protocol has put the stratospheric ozone on the path to recovery by 2025-2040 in the mid-latitudes and by 2045-2060 in the Antarctic by phasing out 98% of the production and consumption of over 100 ozone-depleting substances (ODS).

Phasing out these 100 chemicals also has provided powerful climate protection, avoiding the equivalent of an estimated 9.5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions per year – approximately five times more than the emissions reductions of the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period (2008-2012).

“This remarkable treaty, along with earlier boycotts and national measures to avoid chlorofluorocarbons and related chemicals, has managed to solve an amount of climate change that otherwise would be equal to the amount of warming caused by carbon dioxide warming today,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. Carbon dioxide currently causes 55% of global warming.

The science report warns of two future dangers, however. The first is that the climate protection provided by Montreal Protocol could be wiped out by the growing use of super greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. Although they do not directly destroy stratospheric ozone, HFCs are the fastest-growing climate pollutant in many countries, including China, India, and the U.S., and will be a major cause of climate change in the future.

The report also warns that climate change itself poses a risk to the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer, as tropical ozone levels may be depleted by changes in atmospheric circulation driven by climate change. Ozone depletion over the tropics would increase skin cancer cataracts, suppress the human immune system, and damage agricultural crops and ecosystems.

There are pending proposals to amend the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs. The first proposal was filed five years ago by the Federated States of Micronesia and other small island States to provide fast climate mitigation to slow sea-level rise and violent storm surges that continue to threaten the existence of these islands. Shortly after, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico submitted their own proposal to phase down HFCs. Over100 countries have indicated their political support for phasing down HFCs.

Later this month United Nationals Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will host the 2014 Climate Summit in New York City for more than 100 heads of States to catalyze more ambitious climate commitments, including commitments to phase down HFCs and other short-lived climate pollutants, in an effort to provide momentum for the UN climate treaty expected to be concluded in December 2015 and go into effect in 2020.

“The world owes the Montreal Protocol a debt of gratitude for doing so much to protect both the climate and the stratospheric ozone layer,” said Zaelke. “It’s now time to finish the HFC amendment, and take another big bite out of the climate problem—avoiding the equivalent of somewhere between 100 and 200 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2050, and avoiding up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century.”

The Assessment for Decision Makers will be available here at 3 PM.

 

WMO-UNEP Media Advisory

Media Preview of Latest Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion

Implications for Global Action on Climate Change

 

Wednesday, 10 September 2014, at 14:15

Press Briefing Room (S-237), UN Headquarters

Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, and Assessment Panel Co-Chairs:
Dr. Paul Newman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Prof. A.R. (Ravi) Ravishankara, Colorado State University

The Assessment for Decision-Makers, a summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, is the work of a United Nations panel of 300 scientists and is the first comprehensive update in four years. The report analyses the impact on the Earth’s protective ozone layer of concerted international action since the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. It also assesses the implications of the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances on efforts to address climate change.

An advance copy of the Assessment for Decision-Makers is available, under strict embargo, to interested media.

Media without UN press accreditation should visit the webpage of the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit — www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/index.shtml — or contact them at +1 212-963-6934/6937, e-mail: malu@un.org

For media queries, please contact Jim Sniffen, UNEP-NY, at +1-212-963-8094; sniffenj@un.org. The press conference will be webcast live at http://webtv.un.org. Questions can be emailed to sniffenj@un.org.

IGSD’s Primer on HFCs is here.

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