DESPITE opposition from several developing countries including China, South Africa, India and Brazil, proposals to add a phase-down of HFC refrigerants to the Montreal Protocol will now be discussed at the next meeting in Uganda this November.
The latest Open-ended Working Group meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol in Geneva last week heard reports from the UN's Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) and considered two proposals, from Micronesia and from the US, Canada and Mexico, for amendments to the Montreal Protocol to control HFCs.

The US propose a stepped reduction in HFC usage to 15% of 2004/5 levels through to 2050. It also proposes strict limits on HFC23 emissions beginning in 2014.

Several countries, including China, South Africa, India and Brazil, maintained that HFCs are the mandate of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol and insisted that since HFCs are not ODS, they are outside the scope of the Montreal Protocol.

Some, including Kuwait, China and India, wanted to focus the Montreal Protocol efforts on ODS-related issues.