The Ninth COP of the Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) & 23th COP of the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (hereinafter referred to as the Protocol) was held in Bali Island of Indonesia during November 21~25. More than 500 participants from 124 parties, 4 international organizations and inter-government organizations, over 60 NGOs and observer organizations attended the meeting.
The delegation of the Chinese Government with MEP Vice Minister Wu Xiaoqing as the head and members from departments or universities such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Food and Drug Administration and Peking University attended the meeting.
At the high-level session, Vice Minister Wu Xiaoqing introduced the activities and achievements of China in protection of the ozone layer and implementation of the Convention and Protocol. Regarding relevant situation of the latest development of international implementation, Vice Minister Wu pointed out that developed countries should fully consider practical demands of developing countries and provide stable and adequate financial support to the activities on implementing the Convention. Meanwhile, international communities should emphasize the development and application of substitute technologies to ensure smooth implementation of the Convention and Protocol. In view of relevant suggestions of some countries on integrating the reduction of HFC into the Montreal Protocol, which is under the framework of UNFCCC, Vice Minister Wu called on international community to fully understand the sensitivity and complexity of this issue and appropriately deal with it with full consideration of the concern of all parties. The speech of Vice Minister Wu Xiaoqing obtained active response from the parties attending the meeting.
This conference discussed the topics such as assessment of Protocol financial mechanism, amendment relevant to climate change, substitute substances for ODS with high global warming potential, environment-friendly management of ODS stocks, use of methyl bromide for quarantine and pre-shipment inspection, emission of carbon tetrachloride for the use of processing addictive as well as exemption of necessary uses.
During the meeting, Vice Minister Wu had meetings and discussions with Mr. Mohammad J. Mohammadi Zadeh, Vice President and Head of Department of Environment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, head of Iranian Delegation and Executive Secretary Marco Gonzalez of Ozone Layer Secretariat separately on bilateral cooperation.
The conference of parties for the Convention is held once in every three years and this is the ninth meeting. The COP of the Montreal Protocol is held once a year and this is the 23th meeting. All parties including China have made active contributions to the protection of the ozone layer and reduction of ODS under the framework of the Convention and Protocol with fruitful achievements. It is a common understanding that the Montreal Protocol is the most successful multilateral environmental convention.