UNEP/OzL.Conv.8/Bur.2/2-UNEP/OzL.Pro.22/Bur.1/2

UNITED
NATIONS / EP
UNEP/OzL.Conv.8/Bur.2/2-
UNEP/OzL.Pro.22/Bur.1/2
/ United Nations
Environment
Programme / Distr.: Limited
19 October 2011
Arabic, English, Russian and Spanish only
Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of
the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
Second meeting / Bureau of the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
First meeting

Bali, Indonesia, 19 November 2011

Items 3–5 of the provisional agenda[*]

Work to date on implementation of decisions, overview of working documents and road map for the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol

Note by the Secretariat

Introduction

1.  The Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will meet on Saturday, 19November 2011. The present note provides information about matters on the provisional agenda for the meeting (UNEP/Ozl.Conv.8/Bur.2/1-UNEP/OzL.Pro.22/Bur.1/1): chapter I summarizes the actions taken on the decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention at its eighth meeting and the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol; chapter II provides information on the outcome of the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention, the first meeting of the Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and challenges facing ozone research activities; chapter III provides an overview of the working documents prepared for the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol; and chapter IV provides information on the provisional agenda and the road map for the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the TwentyThird Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

I. Actions taken on the decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention at its eighth meeting and decisions of the TwentySecond Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (agendaitem3)

2.  Annex I to the present note provides a broad overview of the decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its eighth meeting, held in Doha from 16 to 20 November 2008. The table set out in annex II to the present note provides a broad overview of the decisions adopted by the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Parties and the actions required of and taken by the Secretariat in response thereto.

II. Information on the outcome of the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention, the first meeting of the Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and challenges facing ozone research activities

A. Outcome of the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention

3.  In accordance with decisions I/6 and III/8 of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention, every three years the Secretariat, in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization, convenes a meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention. The eighth such meeting was held in Geneva from 2 to 4 May 2011.

4.  Participants considered many issues of vital importance to ozone research, including the latest assessment of the science and effects of ozone layer depletion, the interactions between ozone layer depletion and climate change, continuing work in international monitoring programmes and national and regional ozone research and monitoring activities, in particular the national reports submitted by parties. Satellite research, monitoring and meteorological organizations were represented and information on their satellite programmes was presented. Participants received updates on, among other things, the progress in filling possible serious gaps in satellite monitoring that could arise when the existing generation of satellites and instruments reached the end of its useful life in the near future.

5.  Based on their review of activities and the state of knowledge in the field, the Ozone Research Managers drew up recommendations under the subject categories of research needs, systematic ground-based observation and monitoring, satellite monitoring and research, data archiving and capacity-building. Those recommendations highlighted areas in which further research, support and resources were needed to enable the continued development of understanding of expected ozone recovery, the interrelationship between ozone and climate variability and change and human and biological vulnerability to increased levels of ultraviolet radiation and other stress factors. The need for capacity-building and ideas for specific activities to enhance capacity were also the subject of recommendations.

6.  The report of the meeting, together with the national reports, can be found on the websites of the Ozone Secretariat and the World Meteorological Organization.[1] The recommendations made at the meeting can be found in document UNEP/OzL.Conv.9/6.

7.  During the preparatory segment the parties may wish to review the work and recommendations of the Ozone Research Managers at their eighth meeting and to submit any relevant draft decisions for consideration and possible adoption during the high-level segment.

B. Outcome of the first meeting of the Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties

8.  The first meeting of the Bureau of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention was attended by all the Bureau members and presided over by the Bureau President, Mr. Yapa Priyadharshana (Sri Lanka). The Bureau considered a number of issues, including actions taken on the decisions of the Conference of the Parties at its eighth meeting, reviewed the progress made in the arrangements for the joint ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and reviewed the recommendations adopted at the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention.

9.  The Bureau laid specific emphasis on the recommendations of the Ozone Research Managers in relation to research needs, systematic ground-based observation and monitoring of the ozone layer, satellite monitoring and research, data archiving and capacity-building (in particular, the specific actions identified in terms of capacity-building). Discussions on these issues were enriched by a presentation on stratospheric ozone depletion and the outcome of the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention by Mr. Michael Kurylo of the National Aeronautical and Space Agency of the United States of America, who chaired the eighth meeting. The Bureau took note of the recommendations by the Ozone Research Managers, which can be found in document UNEP/OzL.Conv.9/6.

C. Challenges facing ozone research activities

10.  The resources being allocated to ozone research activities are dwindling as a result of changing government priorities. This may threaten sustained research and monitoring efforts, particularly in relation to the important need to continue to monitor and understand the ozone layer recovery process. The Bureau expressed strong concern that the monitoring of ozone recovery and its interactions with the effects of climate change under atmospheric conditions that differ from pre-1980 conditions must be continued and that parties should be urged to provide resources to make that possible. Consistent with the objectives of the General Trust Fund for Financing Activities on Research and Systematic Observations Relevant to the Vienna Convention and the recommendations of the Ozone Research Managers, the Bureau expressed support for according priority to funding from the General Trust Fund the specific actions being suggested under the capacity-building recommendations made by the Ozone Research Managers.

III. Overview of working documents prepared for the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol

11.  A list of the working and information documents that will be available for the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol is set out in annex III to the present note, while background documents and reports prepared by the assessment panels are listed in annex IV.

12.  The provisional agenda for the meeting (UNEP/OzL.Conv.9/1-UNEP/OzL.Pro.23/1) were dispatched to the parties in September 2011, with the annotations to the provisional agenda (UNEP/OzL.Conv.9/1/Add.1-UNEP/OzL.Pro.23/1/Add.1) following in October 2011. A note by the Secretariat (UNEP/OzL.Conv.9/2-UNEP/OzL.Pro.23/2) intended to provide parties with background information on the issues on the agenda, including, where relevant, a brief description of related activities that took place during the thirty-first meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, was dispatched in October. Information on developments since that meeting is presented in a number of new documents and reports listed in annexes III and IV.

13.  Where budget issues are concerned, the Secretariat has prepared revised 2011 and proposed 2012 and 2013 budgets. The Secretariat will provide background documents to which the parties may refer in their deliberations if necessary.

14.  In addition, the Bureau will have before it a report by the Secretariat on the status of contributions, expenditures and activities under the General Trust Fund for Financing Activities on Research and Systematic Observations Relevant to the Vienna Convention.

IV. Review of the agenda and road map for the upcoming meeting

15.  The joint ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will take place from 21 to 25 November 2011 at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia. In accordance with established practice, the meeting will be divided into two segments: a threeday preparatory segment and a twoday highlevel segment. The preparatory segment is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, 21November 2011, while the high-level segment will begin at the same time on Thursday, 24November. Registration of participants will begin at 10 a.m. on 20 November and will open at 8a.m. each morning thereafter until 24 November.

16.  The agenda for the preparatory segment includes the substantive issues that are expected to be taken up during the high-level segment. Those issues include combined Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol issues on financial reports and budgets of the trust funds for the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol and status of ratification of the Vienna Convention, the Montreal Protocol and Amendments to the Montreal Protocol. Separate issues on the Vienna Convention include the report of the eighth meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna convention and status of the General Trust Fund for Financing Activities on Research and Systematic Observations Relevant to the Vienna Convention.

17.  Separate issues on the Montreal Protocol include consideration of the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol; issues related to exemptions from Article 2 of the Montreal Protocol; environmentally sound disposal of ozone-depleting substances; updating the nomination processes and recusal guidelines for the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel; treatment of ozone-depleting substances used to service ships; additional information on alternatives to ozone-depleting substances; use of methyl bromide in Africa; proposed amendments to the Montreal Protocol; potential areas of focus for the assessment panels’ 2014 quadrennial reports; phase out of HCFC-23 by-product emissions; status of Nepal relative to the Copenhagen Amendment to the Montreal Protocol; membership of Montreal Protocol bodies for 2012, and compliance and reporting issues considered by the Implementation Committee. The Committee will meet for two days immediately before the Bureau meeting, and its report is likely to include a number of recommended decisions on compliance-related matters.

18.  In accordance with the established practice, the Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group will oversee the preparatory segment of the meeting. After the opening of the high-level segment the parties may reconvene the preparatory segment as they deem expedient to allow the completion of any unfinished business.

19.  The opening of the high-level segment on 24 November will be co-chaired by the President of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the President of the Twenty-Second Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, who will conduct the meeting briefly until the parties elect the presidents of the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. In accordance with rule 21 of the rules of procedure and the parties’ established practice of rotating the posts of president and rapporteur among the regional groups in English alphabetical order, it is expected that the new president of the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties will be elected from among the Eastern European States, the rapporteur from among the Asian States and the three vice-presidents from among the African, Latin American and Caribbean and Western European and other States.

20.  The new president of the Twenty-third Meeting of the Parties will be elected from among the African States, the rapporteur from among the Western European and other States and the three vicepresidents from among the Asian, Eastern European and Latin American and Caribbean States.

21.  The newly elected presidents will then guide the parties through the agenda on the understanding that the work of contact groups established during the preparatory segment may continue in parallel with the high-level plenary sessions in an effort to resolve any outstanding issues by Friday, 25 November, when the parties will adopt their decisions.

V. Other matters

22.  At the time of writing, the Secretariat had no further issues that it wished to bring to the Bureau’s attention. Bureau members may wish to raise other issues during the meeting.


Annex I

Broad overview of the decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its eighth meeting, held in Doha from 16 to 20 November 2008

A. Decision VIII/1: Status of ratification of the Vienna Convention, the MontrealProtocol and the London, Copenhagen, Montreal and Beijing amendments to the Montreal Protocol

1.  In 2009 the parties to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol celebrated the fact that the two instruments had become the first treaties ever to be ratified by all countries. Not all countries have, however, yet ratified all the amendments to the Protocol, which include the London, Copenhagen, Montreal and Beijing amendments. The status of ratification of the Vienna Convention, the Montreal Protocol and its amendments as at 12 October 2011 and 15 November 2008, the date of the adoption of decision VIII/I, is shown in table 1, together with the names of all parties that have yet to ratify the amendments: