The forty-first meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (OEWG 41) was faced with a lengthy agenda as it laid the groundwork for decisions to be taken at the thirty-first Meeting of the Parties (MOP 31) to be held in November 2019 in Rome, Italy.

Agenda items that were discussed and kept open for MOP 31’s further consideration include, among others:

• unexpected emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11);
• terms of reference (ToR) for the study on the 2021-2023 replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol;
• review of the ToR, composition, balance, fields of expertise and workload of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel; and
• ToR for the 2022 Quadrennial Assessment.

Agenda items whose discussions were concluded at OEWG 41 and noted in the meeting report include:

• risk of non-compliance with hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) production and consumption reduction targets by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and 
• safety standards.

Over 450 participants from governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry attended OEWG 41, which convened in Bangkok, Thailand from 1-5 July 2019.

Read more...