Stepping up measures to save the atmosphere's ozone layer that shields the earth from deadly ultra-violet radiation, governments are considering a total freeze or accelerated phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), the ozone-busting chemicals, the UN Environment Programme said Friday, DPA reported. Like other international treaties that are lagging behind in implementation, the 20-year-old Montreal Protocol needs another push when 191 governments meet in Montreal starting Monday to review progress in one specific area - the ozone layer. New scientific evidence has shown that the ozone layer has more holes, particularly over Antarctica, because of human use of products as simple as a hair spray, refrigeration and air conditioners. The meeting in Montreal, from September 17 to 21, will consider proposals by a handful of governments to freeze or scale up the phasing out the remaining use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs,) a major component of HCFCs responsible for the destruction of the ozone. CFCs are still widely used in refrigeration. HCFCs were developed by industry to replace them in many other uses, in accord with the Montreal protocol, but science has shown that HCFCs are equally damaging, a UNEP spokesman said. Six different proposals will be on the agenda for consideration, UNEP said. The gathering of environmental ministers ends just three days before the September 24 heads-of-government climate talks in New York at United Nations headquarters. Back in 1987, governments adopted the Montreal Protocol to end the use of HCFCs by 2030 in rich countries and 2040 in poorer ones. With fast-paced economic growth and consumption spreading in developing countries, use of HCFCs has increased. Dutch and American scientists have found that the near elimination of CFCs has assisted in combating climate change, UNEP said. "The phase-out of CFCs has not only put the ozone layer on the road to recovery," said Achim Steiner, the UN undersecretary general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). "New research ... also shows that the CFC phase-out has assisted in combatting climate change." Steiner said that if governments undertake accelerated action on the other chemicals such as HCFCs, "we can look forward to not only a faster recovery of the ozone lawyer, but a further important contribution to the climate-change challenge." Another treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to the warming of the atmosphere, known as global warming. Fresh negotiations will start next year to replace the protocol before its expiration in 2012. Governments and scientists attending the Montreal Protocol meeting next week will look at ways to end use of HCFCs in the next 10 years rather than wait until 2030. If the freeze or phase-out is accelerated in the coming 10 years, they hope to achieve a cumulative emission reduction of between 18 billion and 25 billion metric tons of carbon oxide. But governments will have to promote alternative chemicals that do not destroy the ozone. UNEP said the Montreal Protocol's Technology and Economic Assessment Panel has recently reported that if the freeze and phaseout of HCFCs is successful, the reduction of HCFCs will be higher than the projected 18 billion-to-25 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
