Welcome to the United Nations
2022 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:
Contributions from the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
Introduction
The Secretariat for the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Ozone Secretariat), submits this report to the 2022 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), in response to the invitation from the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Mr Collen Vixen Kelapile.
The report outlines the work carried out under the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol up to the end of 2021, around the theme of 2022 High-level Political Forum "Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". It highlights the relevant contribution of the ozone treaties to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under in-depth review by HLPF in 2022, namely SDG 4 on quality education, SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 14 on life below water, SDG 15 on life on land, and SDG 17 on partnerships for the Goals.
About the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol
The 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna Convention) and its 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) were established to protect human health and the environment from the threat of ozone depletion. Both treaties have achieved universal ratification with 198 parties. The Vienna Convention calls on parties to cooperate on scientific research and observations. The Montreal Protocol controls 96 manufactured ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) plus their isomers, most of which are also potent greenhouse gases. To date, the global implementation of the Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99 per cent of ODSs, or 1.8 million Ozone Depletion Potential tonnes, globally . The remaining 1 per cent (approximately 200,000-300,000 metric tonnes) is largely hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Global phase-out of these substances is expected by 2030. The 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which entered into force on 1 January 2019, added 18 hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to the list of controlled substances. While HFCs do not destroy ozone, they are potent greenhouse gases. Stemming from the Kigali Amendment, parties place an emphasis on the importance of pursuing energy efficiency and sustainability of equipment in refrigeration and air-conditioning sectors while phasing down HFCs.
Ozone Treaties and SDGs
Before providing an account of our specific inputs to the SDGs in question, we want to draw attention to table 1 below which indicate the SDGs to which the work under the ozone treaties contributes. It is also important to note that by mitigating damaging effects of ultra-violet (UV) radiation from stratospheric ozone depletion the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol help maintain the health of the planet on which the achievement of all sustainable development objectives ultimately depends.
Reporting to the HLPF 2022
Our inputs to this report draw from the ongoing work of the parties at the international and national level; the findings of the three Assessment Panels of the Montreal Protocol, based on assessment of a wide array of scientific disciplines relevant to the Montreal Protocol; and the work of the Ozone Secretariat. In the second year of the pandemic and despite the associated travel and other restrictions, the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol continued their work holding global online consultations and negotiations with the active participation of government officials and other stakeholders of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol.
The present report highlights the contribution of the ozone treaties to SDGs 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17, under the subheadings of the template provided by the President of ECOSOC.
(a) Progress, experience, lessons learned, challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of SDGs 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17 from the vantage point of your intergovernmental body, bearing in mind the three dimensions of sustainable development and the interlinkages across the SDGs and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs:
Promoting the popular scientific understanding of the ozone layer and climate science has always been considered important under the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. One activity in this respect implemented by parties at the national level is the integration and mainstreaming of science into the national curricula for primary and secondary education. Agencies involved in the implementation of the Montreal Protocol and the Ozone Secretariat have provided outreach support and readily available educational material to parties for this purpose. In January 2022, the Ozone Secretariat launched an education platform crafted by education experts. The first phase targets 8-12-year-olds with secondary school material to follow in Phase II. Available free online, the dynamic and interactive online teacher and student resources aim to help create engaging learner experiences centred around the importance of science and the power of collaboration to overcome global environmental challenges. The platform follows the release of short animation series and a mobile game called Reset Earth in 2021 to raise awareness and inspire action among young people about the importance of the ozone layer, and the continued need to protect it.
The Kigali Amendment has been ratified by 129 parties to date, of which 91 are developing countries operating under Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol (hereafter referred to as Article 5 parties). The phase-down of HFCs necessitates transition to low-global warming alternatives which represent operational challenges. These substances are widely used in a variety of sectors of the economy, mainly in the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump sector (RACHP), hereafter referred to as the cooling sector for ease of reference. While most of these alternatives are more environmentally friendly by not being ozone-depleting and not warming the planet, some are either flammable, toxic or operate under high pressure. This makes their adoption challenging especially in the context of Article 5 parties where the refrigeration and air-conditioning servicing sector that deals with the installation, repair and maintenance of this equipment is not always sufficiently prepared to safely handle those alternative refrigerants. In many countries of the global south, the servicing sector also tends to be dominated by micro, small and medium enterprises many of which are in the informal sector. The safe introduction of alternative refrigerants may require structural changes in existing systems for the national certification and skills frameworks as well as additional training and relevant education.
The parties to the Montreal Protocol are engaging with stakeholders from national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems to integrate good and safe service practices and mandatory certification for servicing technicians for handling flammable substances. Article 5 parties are eligible for financial support from the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol and technical support from implementing agencies who work with, inter alia, the cooling servicing sector to provide regular capacity building and training on good and safe servicing practices, distribution of servicing tools, and upgrading training facilities at TVET training centres. Many parties have already successfully undertaken necessary changes in their TVET systems to produce the right skills for the changing cooling market. Their experience and lessons learned serve as a useful example to undertake similar processes in other Article 5 parties.
During training, gender mainstreaming efforts are applied with the intention of removing barriers and providing incentives for increased participation of women in this traditionally male-dominated trade. Parties are increasingly prioritizing gender mainstreaming while implementing policies, projects, and activities under the Montreal Protocol. The Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol has produced and has been systematically applying the gender mainstreaming guide to the projects it funds. Implementing and bilateral agencies have also produced their own internal policies and guides to ensure gender mainstreaming in the design and implementation of projects.
The Ozone Secretariat actively highlights the role of women in science, research and development, in fields where women are under-represented, e.g. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The Ozone Secretariat marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and International Women Day in 2021 to raise the visibility of women scientists and policy-makers in the ozone regime. UNEP, through its OzonAction programme as an implementing agency under the Montreal Protocol, launched a global survey in 2021 ’Women in RACHP’ to assess the existing gaps in the background, motivation, challenges and opportunities faced by women in this sector. The results will help inform decision-makers to enhance women participation. In 2019, UNEP OzonAction issues the first-of-its-kind publication entitled “Women in Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Industry”, with over 100 stories from 50 countries that shared inspiring experiences and success stories of women from this field and presented lessons learned from their career paths.
