Image credit: Brian Kinney/ Shutterstock.com

London, United Kingdom: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has announced that a series of meetings of the Montreal Protocol will take place from July 15 to 23, 2016 at Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria, with a view to achieving an amendment to phase-down the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning as replacements for ozone-depleting substances.

According to the announcement, the meeting will start with a resumed two-day Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG), followed by the 38^th OEWG from July 18 to 21, and the 3^rd Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties will be held on July 22-23. The meetings, the announcement added, are expected to finalise discussions on challenges, such as financing and begin negotiations on four amendment proposals submitted by the Island States, European Union, North American countries and India.

The announcement informed that EIA has produced a new briefing, ‘The Importance of Ambition in the 2016 HFC Phase-Down Agreement’, outlining key aspects of the proposals and calling on Parties to seek an agreement securing the highest climate ambition.

Phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, the announcement explained, could avoid more than 100 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2050 and up to 0.5 degrees C of warming by the end of the century, vital to achieving the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The agency has revealed that Clare Perry, Climate Campaign Leader of EIA, and Adela Putinelu, Climate Campaigner of EIA, will be attending the meetings.  

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