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After hearing a statement from
the facilitator of the contact group, the Executive Committee decided to
consider at its 55th Meeting a revised version of document
UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/54/54 which would take into account any comments that
Members had submitted to the Fund Secretariat by the end of April 2008.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/54/59, Decision 54/40, para.177).
(Supporting document:
UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/54/54, Corr.1 and Add.1).
The Fifty-fifth Meeting of the Executive Committee
decided:
(a) to take note of the discussion paper providing
an analysis of relevant cost considerations surrounding the financing of HCFC
phase-out contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/55/47;
(b) to invite bilateral and implementing agencies
to prepare and submit project proposals to the Secretariat for those HCFC uses
addressed in paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (f) below
so that the Executive Committee could choose those projects that best
demonstrated alternative technologies and facilitated the collection of
accurate data on incremental capital cost and incremental operating costs or
savings, as well as other data relevant to the application of the technologies,
on the understanding that the quantity of HCFC to be phased out under those
projects needed to be deducted from the starting point for sustained aggregate
reductions in eligible consumption as set by the HCFC phase-out management plan
(HPMP);
(c) to note the limited introduction of several of
the HCFC alternative technologies available to date in Article 5 countries, the
need to validate them and optimize their use in the light of the local
conditions prevailing in Article 5 countries, and the wide variation in costs
of replacement equipment and raw materials and, accordingly:
(i) to
request the Secretariat to gather technical information related to HCFC phase
out in the aerosols, fire extinguishers and solvents sectors on an ongoing
basis, to review any project in those sectors when submitted and to refer it,
as appropriate, for individual consideration by the Executive Committee;
(ii) to
consider deferring to its first meeting in 2010 any decision it might wish to
take on policies for the calculation of incremental operating costs or savings
from HCFC conversion projects, as well as the establishment of cost-effectiveness
thresholds, in order to benefit from the experience gained through review of
HCFC phase-out projects as stand-alone projects and/or as components of HPMPs
prior to that Meeting;
(d) to agree that the technical information
contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/55/47, was sufficient to enable
preparation, review and submission on a case-by-case basis of a number of
stand-alone projects for HCFC phase out in the foam, refrigeration and air
conditioning sectors;
(e) to invite bilateral and implementing agencies,
as a matter of urgency, to prepare and submit a limited number of time-specific
project proposals involving interested systems houses and/or chemical suppliers
for the development, optimization and validation of chemical systems for use
with non-HCFC blowing agents on the following basis:
(i) as
part of the projects, following the development and validation process, the
collaborating systems houses would provide technology transfer and training to
a selected number of downstream foam enterprises to complete the phase-out of
HCFCs in those enterprises;
(ii) agencies
would collect and report accurate project cost data as well as other data
relevant to the application of the technologies;
(iii) in
order to be of benefit for the preparation and implementation of the HPMPs, as
well as any stand-alone projects, these specific projects would be completed
within a period not exceeding 18 months and a progress report on each of the
two implementation phases as outlined in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above, would
be made available to the Executive Committee;
(iv) bilateral
and implementing agencies and relevant collaborating systems houses were
encouraged to address the technological issues surrounding preparation and
distribution of premixed polyols containing hydrocarbon blowing agents;
(f) to invite bilateral and implementing agencies
to submit a limited number of demonstration projects for the conversion of
HCFCs in the refrigeration and air conditioning sub-sectors to low-global
warming potential (GWP) technologies to identify all the steps required and to
assess their associated costs;
(g) to continue its deliberations on policy
relating to second-stage conversions and determination of the cut-off date for
installation of HCFC-based manufacturing equipment, after which incremental
costs for the conversion of such equipment would not be eligible for funding,
with a view to concluding its considerations prior to submission of stand-alone
projects;
(h) to further analyse if an approach of the type
outlined in document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/55/47 provided a satisfactory and
transparent basis for the prioritization of HCFC phase-out technologies to
minimize other impacts on the environment, including on the climate as
originally envisaged in decision XIX/6 of the Nineteenth Meeting of the
Parties, and to request the Secretariat to continue with its evaluation in
order to report in a more detailed fashion at a subsequent Executive Committee
Meeting;
(i) to request the Secretariat to approach other
institutions with the objective of identifying individual, regional or
multilateral funding mechanisms that might be suitable and compatible as
sources for timely co-financing to top up Multilateral Fund ozone funding in
order to achieve additional climate benefits and to provide a further report to
a future Meeting; and
(j) to consider,
at a future Meeting, issues relating to whether or not to retire, prematurely,
functioning equipment once the 2013 and 2015 compliance targets had been
addressed.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/55/53, Decision 55/43, para. 206).
(Supporting
document: UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/55/47).
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