UNEP DTIE OzonAction Branch: News

Thimpu, 10 August 2010- Today, a small country in the lap of Himalaya has taken a giant step. Bhutan, one of the few countries in the world where sustainable development is embedded in its constitution, has made a historic decision to further advance the phase out of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) - a powerful Green House Gas and Ozone Depleting substance by 10 years.
HCFCs are widely used in air conditioning applications as well as in refrigeration and in manufacturing of insulation foams. HCFCs not only destroy the stratospheric ozone layer which is essential to life on Earth but they are also potent greenhouse gases having Global Warming Potential 2000 times more than carbon dioxide In 2007, international community took an important step for accelerated phase-out of HCFCs. i.e. by 2030 in the developing countries in order to advance ozone layer recovery by nearly 4 years and reduce the cumulative emissions of the green house gases by nearly 25 giga tons of the equivalent of CO2.
Bhutan's enviable reputation in environment conservation thus far is testimony of its commitment of pursuing sustainable development based on the philosophy of Gross National Happiness, which underscores that development cannot be pursued on the premise of economic growth alone but has to take place in combination with the emotional and spiritual well-being of the people.
As eloquently summarized by His Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product". This has been the guiding force of Bhutan's sustainable development strategy.
His Majesty the King has also stated that "Throughout the centuries, the Bhutanese have treasured their natural environment and have looked upon it as the source of all life. This traditional reverence for nature has delivered us into the twentieth century with our environment still richly intact. We wish to continue living in harmony with nature and to pass on this rich heritage to our future generations".
The United Nations Environment Programme, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) OzonAction Programme has been working closely with the National Environment Commission Secretariat, Bhutan in the development of HPMP while assessing various risks associated with the implementation of such a plan over a long time framework of 20 years.
In this process, relevant Ministries in the country, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Ministry of Health, Department of Customs as well as other national stakeholders have agreed to commit and collaborate in the implementation of the plan.
"Such a strong commitment of Bhutan to HCFC Phase out will help them reach their ambitious target. OzonAction Programme will work shoulder to shoulder with Bhutan to stop the consumption of this group of chemicals earlier than the Montreal Protocol phase out deadline, as was done when CFCs were phased out by Bhutan" said Mr. Rajendra Shende, Head of UNEP DTIE OzonAction Programme. "Scaling the Himalayan peaks require excellent supply chain management . OzonAction would do exactly that by providing capacity building and technology support" added Mr. Shende.
Bhutan has committed to phase out the consumption of HCFCs, mainly used in the air conditioning and refrigeration servicing sector in its large industrial establishments, hotels and resorts, corporate offices, governmental sectors, as well as domestic servicing sector. The plan also involves policy and legislations, training and capacity building activities, as well as information outreach for HCFC phase-out.
"Our decision to phase out HCFCs will demonstrate to the world our determination to protect our planet by benefiting from the low hanging climate benefit fruits from the Montreal Protocol and cutting carbon footprints and promoting energy efficiency and green economy." said Ms. Peldon Tshering, Chief
National Environment Commission Secretariat, Bhutan.
This is an encouraging action that demonstrates to the global community that small countries like Bhutan can also be at the frontline in the battle against climate change and the protection of the ozone layer
SOURCE: UNEP DTIE OzonAction-CAP ROAP, http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/information/mmcfiles/7437-e-Bhutan_PR2010.pdf

Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, David Erickson and James Neet
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a report that gathered data from weather stations in 48 countries and analyzed more than 30 "climate indicators." Titled "State of the Climate in 2009," the report, issued July 28, 2010, studied climate indicators such as air temperature, temperature over land and over water, humidity, snow cover, glacier mass, and sea ice area.
Among the report's findings are the following:
(i) "Global average surface and lower-troposphere temperatures during the last three decades have been progressively warmer than all earlier decades"; (ii) the 2000-2009 decade was the warmest decade on record; (iii) Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise"; (iv) "the 2009 Antarctic ozone hole was comparable in size to recent previous ozone holes, while still much larger than those observed before 1990"; (v) Global integrals of upper-ocean heat content for the last several years have reached values consistently higher than for all prior times in the record"; (vi) the 2009 "summer minimum ice extent in the Arctic was the third lowest recorded since 1979"; and (vii) "the Antarctic Peninsula continues to warm at a rate five times larger than the global mean warming."
The 222-page report contains seven major chapters, thousands of data points and analyses by 300 authors from 160 different research groups. The stated purpose of the report was to document climate and weather events in 2009 from around the world and put them in historical perspective. It does not theorize on potential causes or sources of climate change.
SOURCE: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=14fe3a01-0b14-4ad4-aa4a-18b5708ef24a