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India swears by phasing out Ozone Depleting Substances

India has declared its total commitment to the Montreal Protocol and called for global cooperation to help phase out the use of Ozone Depleting Substances.

"Without doubt, the Montreal Protocol is a very successful model of global environmental cooperation," Environment and Forests Minister Suresh Prabhu said at the tenth meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol in Cairo earlier this week.

Prabhu was leading the Indian delegation to the two-day meeting in the Egyptian capital which ended on Tuesday.

"The agreed implementation mechanism for (phasing out the use of ODS) needs to be fully supported by all-round cooperation," he said.

He said a major challenge confronting the global community was to harmonise the policies of phase-out of ODS under the Montreal Protocol and controlling emissions of greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol.

Prabhu said India had endeavoured in the last five years to create awareness among Article Two and Article Five countries on the issues and problems of developing countries and to encourage enterprises to come forward with phase-out projects and adopt ozone-friendly technologies at the earliest.

"We will continue these efforts in our country and I am certain we will be able to fulfil our commitment to the first freeze level of July 1, 1999 in consumption and production sectors," Prabhu said.

The minister said India had already taken a number of policy measures, both legislative and fiscal, to encourage early adoption of non-ODS technologies.

"Our emphasis on certifying ODS consumption in phase-out projects, licensing export and import of ODS, banning export to non-Article Five countries and our system of granting duty exemption for goods needed for non-ODS projects approved by the multilateral fund show our government's commitment to the Montreal Protocol," he said.

The duty exemption had also been extended for new establishments with non-ODS technologies.

According to him, Indian financial institutions had stopped funding new investment in India with ODS technologies from as early as 1995.

He said the government had recently developed detailed draft rules to regulate ODS phase-out under the Environment Protection Act, which it hoped to put in place well before the 1999 freeze date.

Prabhu said attention was also being paid to phase-out projects in the production sector, use of ODS as process agent in the solvent sector and adopting innovative methodologies to phase out ODS in the largely untapped small and medium enterprises.

He said there was a need to adopt solutions which establish greater harmony with nature in the global effort to tackle the problems of global environment.

"A matter of concern to us is that the guidelines for funding projects for closure of ODS production facilities are yet to be finalised,'' he said.

Prabhu hoped that adequate funding would be provided as compensation to the CFC producing units in the developing countries.

"India has to meet the target of reducing CFC production in a phased manner and to the level of 50 per cent of the average production of 1995-97 by 2005," he said.

He said another important area for India was funding of projects for phasing out Carbon Tetrachloride used as process agent had not been given priority by the executive committee.

"A fair and favourable decision in this regard is a must to enable the developing countries to meet the target of 85 per cent reduction of the use of CTC by 2005," he stressed.

He said India needed adequate and early funding from the multilateral fund in this area. "These concerns are shared by a number of developing countries," he pointed out.

As regards the multilateral fund, Prabhu said the time had come to initiate discussion on an adequate replenishment for 2000-2002.

"This matter is of great significance for the Article Five countries. Non-Article Five countries need to view the fast-approaching approaching phase-out schedule of the protocol after the first freeze in 1999 and thereafter in 2002.

"Overall cost effectiveness thresholds have been imposed by the system while sanctioning the projects, which has depleted the allocations to the Article Five countries and the special needs of SMES have also not been adequately addressed," he said.

He welcomed the decision of the executive committee to have a funding window of ten million dollars in the 1999 business plan for pilot demonstration projects for SMES in the aerosol and foam sectors at 150 per cent of threshold value of the relevant sector.

Prabhu said India had demonstrated its commitment to the Montreal Protocol and CFC consumption in the country had largely remained constant during the last three years.

"We are at a very critical stage where the momentum generated in the past has to be further strengthened. There is no room for complacency," he added.

UNI

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