Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan on Friday said after successfully phasing out the first generation of Ozone Depleting substances, Pakistan was in the process of phasing out hydrofluorocarbons.
Representing Pakistan at 11th Conference of Parties to the Vienna Convention for the protection of the Ozone layer and the 29th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone layer being held in Montreal, Canada, the minister said “in the first phase of the hydrofluorocarbons phase out management plan, we have phased out hydro fluorocarbons from all major foam industry.”
The minister also apprized the delegates that the second phase of hydrofluorocarbons phase out management plan is ready for launching with the help of the multilateral fund and its partners implementing agencies and cooperation with all stakeholders.
Mushahidullah also informed that Pakistan does not manufacture any of the Ozone Depleting Substances and we have a strict regulatory regime to check imports of these substances with a system of licensing and quotas for import of hydro fluorocarbons.
“We are in process of introducing some additional regulations to streamline future use of substances and equipment in industry,” he added.
The minister also told the audience that Pakistan has initiated the process of ratification of Kigali amendment. In this regard a letter of endorsement to UN Environment to develop activity-enabling activity has been developed.
Senator Mushahidullah Khan also highlighted that in context of phasing down of Hydro fluorocarbons, Pakistan’s concern exists due to a number of reasons which includes availability of substitute at affordable prices and transfer of technologies.
Being a developing economy, our industrial sector is already under stress in phasing out the hydrofluorocarbons and is not mature to undergo another phase out and technology system, he added.
The minister also highlighted that Pakistan is among top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change and is threatened in many ways inter alia through glacier melting, low crop productivity, scorching summer temperature, prolonged heat spells, droughts and extreme precipitation. He also assured about commitment of government of Pakistan to protect Ozone layer.
The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted in 1985 and entered into force on September 22, 1988. In 2009, the Vienna Convention became the first Convention of any kind to achieve universal ratification. The objectives of the Convention were for Parties to promote cooperation by means of systematic observations, research and information exchange on the effects of human activities on the ozone layer and to adopt legislative or administrative measures against activities likely to have adverse effects on the ozone layer.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer. The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on 16 September 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989.
