Treaties and Protocols

History of Treaties and Protocols

• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
• Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change (1997)
• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PICs)
(1998)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (2001)
• Strategic Approach for International Chemicals Management (SAICM)
(2002)
• Paris Agreement international treaty on climate change (2016)
• Kigali Amendment to phase down high GWP Refrigerants (2019)
Montreal Protocol
• Adopted on 16 September 1987 at the Headquarters of the
International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal.
• The Montreal Protocol is the international treaty to protect the
stratospheric ozone layer.
• The Protocol was designed so that the phase out schedules could be
revised on the basis of periodic scientific and technological
assessments.
• It has so far succeeded in phasing out 98% of the chemicals
responsible for causing damage and, as a result, the ozone layer is
showing the first signs of recovery.
Phase-out Schedule of ODS as per Montreal Protocol
Freeze 20% 50% 75% 85% 100%

Article 5 countries
CFCs 1999 2005 2007 2010
Halons 2002 2005 2010
HCFCs 2013 2015-10% 2020-35% 2025-67.5% 2030-97.5%
MeBr 2002 2005 2040
Non-Article 5 countries
CFCs 1990 1994 1996
Halons 1992 1994
HCFCs 1996 2004-35% 2010 2015-90% 2020-99.5%
MeBr 1995 1999* 2001 2003 2005
* 25 %
Montreal Protocol
• Article 5 countries are:
• Any Party that is a developing country and whose annual calculated level of
consumption of the controlled substances is less than 0.3 kilograms per capita
on the date of the entry into force of the Protocol for it, or any time
thereafter until 1 January 1999.

• Non-Article 5 countries are the developed countries.

 Article 5 (A5) countries are Non-Article 5 (NA5) countries
the developing countries are developed countries

Main Group 2 Group 1 Group 2

Group
Remaining of 1. G.C.C. Countries Remaining of 1. Belarus
the developing 2. India the developed 2. Russian
world countries 3. Iran world countries 3. Kazakhstan
4. Iraq 4. Tajikistan
5. Pakistan 5. Uzbekistan
Global Phase-out Curves
Basel Convention (1989)
• During the first decade of the Montreal Protocol (1989-1999), the
Basel Convention was principally devoted to setting up a framework
for controlling the movement of hazardous wastes across
international frontiers by:
• Active promotion and use of cleaner technologies and production methods
• Further reduction of the movement of hazardous wastes
• The prevention and monitoring of illegal traffic
• Improvement of institutional and technical capabilities.
• Further development of regional and sub regional centers for training and
technology transfer.
 Kyoto Protocol (1997)
• The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005
• The ultimate objective is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of GHGs at a
level that will prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.
• The targets for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol cover
emissions of the six main greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and
SF6
• Sources of such GHGs: Fuel combustion (transport sector, power plants…),
mineral products, chemical industry, agriculture, AC,…
Rotterdam Convention (1998)
• The Rotterdam Convention was adopted on 1998.
• The Convention entered into force on 24 February 2004.
• The objectives of the Convention are:
• to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the
international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human
health and the environment from potential harm;
• to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals,
by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing
for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by
disseminating these decisions to Parties.
 Rotterdam Convention (1998)
• The Convention promotes the exchange of information on a very broad range of
chemicals through:
• the requirement for a Party to inform other Parties of each national ban or severe restriction
of a chemical;
• the possibility for Party which is a developing country or a country in transition to inform other
Parties that it is experiencing problems caused by a severely hazardous pesticide formulation
under conditions of use in its territory;
• the requirement for a Party that plans to export a chemical that is banned or severely
restricted for use within its territory, to inform the importing Party that such export will take
place, before the first shipment and annually thereafter;
• the requirement for an exporting Party, when exporting chemicals that are to be used for
occupational purposes, to ensure that an up-to-date safety data sheet is sent to the importer;
and
• labeling requirements for exports of chemicals included in the PIC procedure, as well as for
other chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the exporting country.
Stockholm Convention (2001)
• The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
was adopted in 2001.
• The Convention entered into force on 17 May 2004.
• Exposure to POPs can lead to serious health effects including:
• cancers,
• birth defects,
• dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems,
• greater susceptibility to disease
• damages to the central and peripheral nervous systems.
The Paris Agreement
• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on
climate change
• It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December
2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5
degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
• To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach
global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to
achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century
Stockholm Convention (2001)
• POPs are chemicals that possess toxic properties, resist degradation,
bioaccumulate (accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms), and
are transported, through air, water and migratory species, etc.
• Examples of POPs used in daily life includes
• DDT
• secondary copper
• aluminum and zinc productions
• open burning of waste,
• fossil fuel industrial burners
Introduction to the Kigali Amendment
Why Kigali’s Amendment?
• HFC refrigerants were used following Montreal’s Protocol to eliminate
the use of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) refrigerants
• HFCs may not be ODS, however they are greenhouse gases (GHG)
with high global warming potentials (GWPs)
• The GWPs of HFC refrigerants range from 12 to 14,800 compared to
CO2
• Kigali’s Amendment to Montreal Protocol was introduced to was
introduced to phase down the use of HFCs
• Phase down schedules have been developed for Article 5 and non-
Article 5 countries.
• Kigali’s Amendment will enter into force on the 1st of January 2019
HFC Phase Down Comparison
A5 Countries NA5- Countries
100 100
NA5 (Main Group)
90 90
NA5: Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan,
80 80 Tarikistan, and Uzebekistan

70 70
% of Baseline

% of Baseline
60 60

50 50

40 40
30 A5: Group 1 30
20 20
A5: Group 2
10 10
0 0
2024 2029 2034 2039 2044 2019 2024 2029 2034
Years Years
 Phasing Down Timetable
NA-5 Main Group NA-5 (Group 2)1 A-5 (Group 1) 2 A-5 (Group 2) 3
Baseline 2011-2013 2011-2013 2020-2022 2024-2026
Baseline Average HFC Average HFC Average HFC Average HFC
Calculations consumption/production consumption/production consumption/production consumption/production
in baseline years+ 15% of in baseline years+ 25% of in baseline years+ 65% of in baseline years+ 65% of
HCFC HCFC HCFC HCFC
consumption/production consumption/production consumption/production consumption/production

Reduction
Steps
Step 1 2019—10% 2019—10% 2029—10% 2032—10%
Step 2 2024—40% 2024—40% 2035—30% 2037—30%
Step 3 2029—70% 2029—70% 2040—50% 2042—50%
Step 4 2034—80% 2034—80% 2045—80% 2047—85%
Step 5 2036—85% 2036—85%
1. Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan & Uzbekistan
2. A-5 countries not in Group 2
3. India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and the G.C.C
Kigali Amendment and Related Development
on Energy Efficiency
• The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the
production and consumption of HFCs provides opportunity to realize
energy efficiency gains when replacing HFC/HCFC-based equipment
• A group of philanthropist organizations have pledged US$53 million in
grants [the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Fund] to support energy
efficiency alongside the phase-down of HFCs
• To complement these funds, the World Bank Group announced it will
make available US$1 billion in funding for energy efficiency in urban
areas by 2020 that could include support for the development and
deployment of high-efficiency cooling technologies using climate-
friendly refrigerants.
Applications and Delays
• A 4-year delay is there for parties with high ambient temperature
conditions where suitable alternatives do not exist, mostly Group 2
A5-countries
• Application of the Kigali’s Amendment on AC units include:
1. Multi-split air conditioners (commercial and residential);
2. Split ducted air conditioners (residential and commercial);
3. Ducted commercial packaged (self-contained) air conditioners.
 Direct and Indirect Emissions

Direct Emissions: Refrigerant gas

emissions due to
leakages/maintenance within the
vapor compression cycle

Indirect Emissions: CO2 emissions due

to the energy consumption in AC
 Environmental Impact of Refrigerant Leakages
ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝐺𝑊𝑃 =
ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑂2
 GWP Classifications
Ultra-High> 10000 HFC 23 (148000)

Very High 3000 -10000 R-404A (3922) R507A

(3985)
High 1000-3000 R-410A (2088) HCFC- 22 HFC-134a (1430)
(1810)
Medium 300- HFC-32 (675) R-447A R-4548 (446)
1000 (583)
Low 100- R-454A (239) R-455A
300 (148)
Very R-430A (94)
Low 30-
100
Ultra- R-717 (0) R-744 (1) R-290 (3) HFO-1234yf (5)
low
<30
 Paris Accord and Relationship with Kigali
• The Paris Agreement’s aim is to
strengthen the global response to the
threat of climate change
• Keep a global temperature rise this
century well below 2℃ above pre-
industrial levels
• Pursue efforts to limit the temperature
increase even further to 1.5℃
• The Kigali Amendment can avert as
much as 0.5℃ of warming over the
course of the century
 A/C CO2 Emissions
2010 Global GHG Emissions from Air Conditioning

450
Indirect Emissions (Energy
Consumptions)
400 Direct Emissions (from HCFCs)
350
Emissions (MMTCO2e)

Direct Emissions (from HFCs)

300

250 283
200
233
150

100

50
75
54
19 27
0
Residential A/C Commercial A/C
Source: US Dept. of Energy, The Future of Air Conditioning for Buildings (2016)
 So What’s Next? What Should We Do?
• Alternative refrigerants are still being studied--work not completed yet.
• Testing Standards and Codes still do not exist since alternative
refrigerants are still being investigated
• Refrigerant manufacturers are reporting data on energy efficient that
need to be verified. Holistic approach and uniformity of testing of
alternative refrigerants is needed.
• Full system re-design is required to adopt low-GWP refrigerants