Governments to replenish ozone fund
Copyright 1999, Associated Press
December 4, 1999
Officials from 129 governments have agreed to
replenish a fund to help developing countries phase out the
production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals.
At a five-day U.N.-sponsored meeting that ended Friday, officials agreed to $440 million in new contributions, bringing the total multilateral fund to $475 million, organizers said.
Developing countries may use the money to meet commitments agreed to under the Montreal Protocol to phase out the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, by 2010. Industrialized countries have already phased out production of most CFCs, commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
Widespread use of CFCs and other chemicals are suspected of thinning the ozone, the protective layer which shields the earth from ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer and contribute to global warming.
"Phasing out CFCs in developing countries is by far the most important next step in protecting the ozone layer," K. Madhava Sarma, executive secretary of the ozone treaties, said in a statement released by the U.N. Environment Program.
The Montreal Protocol, signed by 165 countries, was reached in 1989. It requires industrial countries to ban methyl bromide by 2005. Developing countries have until 2015.
Environmental groups that gathered in Beijing to lobby government delegates criticized the conference for failing to enact a European Union-sponsored amendment that would strengthen efforts to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons and put a freeze on the use of methyl bromide.
The meeting adopted new restrictions on hydrochlorofluorocarbons, banning trade in the chemicals with countries that have not agreed to phase out their production, UNEP said. Under the agreement, industrialized countries will freeze production of the chemicals in 2004 and developing countries in 2016.
Hydrochloroflourocarbons are an odorless, colorless gas used by packers and farmers for pest control, particularly for strawberries and tomatoes.