A partnership agreement was signed on 16th
November between the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the
United Nations Environment Programme to provide assistance to developing
countries to help them end their reliance on hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs),
chemicals which were adopted as alternatives to the ozone depleting
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in applications like refrigeration, air
conditioning and foam blowing. UNEP OzonAction has also unveiled today a
new section of its website- The HCFC Help Centre- in response to the need
for policy and technology information about HCFCs and their alternatives.
The new Swedish-UNEP cooperation will raise the awareness of industry and
governments in developing countries about commercially-available
alternatives to HCFCs and aims to convince them about the benefits of
adopting such technology.
Although HCFCs have considerably lower
ozone depleting potentials than CFCs, they are nonetheless harmful to the
ozone layer. In addition, many HCFCs have high global warming potentials -
up to 2000 times that of carbon dioxide. By supporting the replacement or
avoidance of HCFCs in developing countries, the partnership will therefore
contribute to protection of both the stratospheric ozone layer and the
global climate system.
This announcement comes quickly on the
heels of an historic agreement that was negotiated this September under
the Montreal Protocol - the global treaty established in 1987 to protect
the Earth's ozone layer- which accelerates the phase out of HCFCs in
developing countries. That adjustment to the treaty caps production and
consumption levels in developing countries by 2013 and brings forward the
final phase-out date of these chemicals by ten years.
The result of the adjustment to the
Montreal Protocol will mean that, as well as phasing out a major remaining
ozone depleting substance, the benefits for the climate system, subject to
alternatives adapted, will be considerable - preventing the release of up
to the equivalent of about 25 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (gigatonnes)
over the coming decades, where zero or low GWP substitute technologies are
adopted by countries. There is an opportunity to gain additional
significant climate benefits in improved energy efficiency of replacement
technologies and other improvements, increasing the cumulative climatic
advantage to the equivalent of around 38 billion metric tonnes (gigatonnes)
of carbon dioxide.
Dr. Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Senior Adviser,
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said: "Having phased out HCFC
consumption in Sweden, to a large extent, we have the experience to share
in this regard. We have been working with UNEP's OzonAction programme to
develop and apply our knowledge as a platform to benefit developing and
emerging countries.
