BRIEFING NOTE February 2017 RATIFICATION OF THE KIGALI AMENDMent OZONE SECRETARIAT ozone.unep.org Briefing Note on Ratification of the Kigali Amendment, February 2017 1. SCOPE OF THE BRIEFING times, most recently by the Kigali Amendment2, which is the fifth in a series of amendments to the Protocol, NOTE and was adopted to phase down HFCs, which are On 15 October 2016, in Kigali, the parties to the Mon- frequently used as substitutes for ozone-depleting treal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone substances (ODSs). Although HFCs are not ODSs, Layer (the Montreal Protocol) reached agreement they are powerful greenhouse gases that have signifi- at their 28th Meeting to phase down consumption cant global warming potentials (GWPs). and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). They adopted an amendment (the Kigali Amendment) in Legal obligations under the Kigali Decision XXVIII/1. Amendment This briefing note has been prepared by the Secretar- The Kigali Amendment is a binding international iat of the Montreal Protocol to help Parties to the Pro- agreement, or treaty, which is intended to create tocol prepare for ratification, acceptance, or approval rights and obligations in international law. of the Kigali Amendment. This note: Once the Amendment enters into force for a par- • introduces the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali ty3, that party assumes legal obligations under the Amendment; Amendment. • lists the implications of ratification of the Amend- ment; 3. IMPLICATIONS OF • explains the concepts of ratification and entry into force; RATIFICATION • lists steps to be taken to prepare for ratification and entry into force; Key reasons to become a Party to the • describes how to ratify; and Kigali Amendment • provides in the annex a model instrument of rati- The Montreal Protocol has put the ozone layer on fication. the road to recovery by phasing out ODSs and in the The information presented in this note is intended process has also mitigated climate change. Under the only as a resource for the parties. It is not meant to Amendment, parties will phase down production and be exhaustive nor in any way prescriptive. For the consumption of HFCs, creating the potential to avoid sake of brevity, throughout this note, the word “ratifi- up to 0.5°C of warming by the end of the century. cation” will be used to cover “ratification, acceptance All prior amendments and adjustments of the Montre- and approval’1. al Protocol have universal support; states4 that ratify the Amendment early will lead a trend the rest of the 2. INTRODUCTION world is likely to follow. The Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment When parties deploy new technologies while imple- menting the Kigali Amendment, they will be able to The Montreal Protocol is a well-established multi- gain a competitive advantage in the world market. lateral environmental agreement that is successfully Alternative technologies are often cost-effective and preventing massive damage to human health and the lead to an improvement in the quality of end products, environment from excessive ultraviolet radiation from the sun by phasing out the production and consump- tion of substances that deplete the ozone layer. 2 The authentic text of the Kigali Amendment may be found at https://treaties. un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2016/CN.872.2016-Eng.pdf. The Montreal Protocol has been amended several 3 A party to the Kigali Amendment will be a state, which has consented to be bound by the Amendment and for which the Amendment is in force. For the purposes of this note, “state” also includes regional economic integration organisations, which means in practice the European Union. 1 Except where acceptance and approval are briefly discussed separately in 4 For purposes of this note, the term “state” also includes a regional economic section 5 of this note. integration organization. The EU is a regional economic integration organization. UN Environment Ozone Secretariat 1 Briefing Note on Ratification of the Kigali Amendment, February 2017 including in energy efficiency. already made a first conversion8 in order to phase out substances in accordance with the Montreal Through the Kigali Amendment, the Montreal Protocol Protocol9. takes responsibility for HFCs and plays a leading role • There will be support for enabling activities for in working towards an environmentally sustainable institutional strengthening, import and export world where no one is left behind, consistent with the licencing and quotas, Article 7 reporting, demon- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. stration projects and the development of national Article 5 parties to the Kigali Amendment will have strategies for phasing down HFCs10. access to financial and technical support provided • High-ambient-temperature exemption: There under the Protocol. There are also a number of other is an exemption11 from the HFC phase-down for benefits from ratification. Article 5 parties from the requirements to phase down HFCs to the extent that a high-ambi- The benefits of becoming a party to the ent-temperature exception applies12. Kigali amendment • There may also be other exemptions13, such as Article 5 parties for essential uses and critical uses for produc- tion or consumption that are necessary to satisfy There are particular incentives for Article 5 parties to uses agreed by the parties to be exempted uses. ratify the Kigali Amendment: Mechanisms for such potential exemptions will be • The financial mechanism: Article 10 of the Mon- considered in 2029. treal Protocol establishes a financial mechanism • If an Article 5 party is unable to implement its ob- to provide financial and technical cooperation, ligations due to inadequate implementation of the including the transfer of technologies, to support provisions on technology transfer and the finan- Article 5 parties’ compliance with the Protocol. cial mechanism, it may start a process that will Part of this package is the Multilateral Fund (MLF), result in a decision by the Meeting of the Parties which, amongst other things, meets the agreed on actions to be taken. incremental costs of Article 5 parties. The 28th • The Implementation Committee14 operates in a Meeting of the Parties made a number of key de- non-judicial, non-confrontational and facilitative cisions about MLF support for Article 5 parties. manner to support parties’ compliance. Cus- • Article 5 parties “will have flexibility to prioritize tomarily, the President of the Implementation HFCs, define sectors, select technologies and Committee attends the meetings of the Exec- alternatives and elaborate and implement their utive Committee of the MLF and the Chair and strategies to meet agreed HFC obligations, based Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee attend the on their specific needs and national circumstanc- meetings of the Implementation Committee as es, following a country-driven approach”5; this principle is to be incorporated into MLF guide- lines6. • The Executive Committee of the MLF has been requested to develop guidelines for financing the 8 “First conversions” are conversions to low-GWP or zero-GWP alternatives of enterprises that have never received any direct or indirect support, in part phase-down of HFC consumption and production, or in full, from the Multilateral Fund, including enterprises that converted 7 to hydrofluorocarbons with their own resources. See paragraph 18, including cost-effectiveness thresholds . subparagraph (a) of decision XXVIII/2. • The Executive Committee of the MLF has been 9 See paragraph 18 of decision XXVIII/2. requested to incorporate, into funding guide- 10 See paragraphs 20 and 21 of decision XXVIII/2. lines, principles that will make enterprises eligible 11 See Article 5, paragraph 8 qua and subparagraph (g) of the Montreal Protocol. for funding for second and third conversions to 12 The high-ambient-temperature exception is currently set out in decision comply with the Amendment where they have XXXVIII/2. 13 See paragraphs 38 to 40 of decision XXVIII/2. 5 See paragraph 13 of decision XXVIII/2. 14 Pursuant to Article 8 of the Montreal Protocol, a non-compliance procedure 6 See paragraph 14 of decision XXVIII/2. was adopted by decision IV/5, which has been amended since. The decision 7 See paragraph 10 of decision XXVIII/2. established the Implementation Committee. UN Environment Ozone Secretariat 2 Briefing Note on Ratification of the Kigali Amendment, February 2017 observers and assist each other15,16. completely; it recognises that in some circumstances • Extra financial support will be available to pro- HFC use will be permitted. vide support for Article 5 parties that make a fast Participation at minimal extra cost start to phasing down HFCs. Before the meeting in Kigali, a group of 16 donor countries announced Normally the ratification of an environmental treaty their intent to provide $27 million to the MLF with regular international meetings would incur extra before the next scheduled replenishment of the costs for a state for preparing and participating in Fund. This may be supplemented by energy effi- these meetings. States will, however, not incur signif- ciency funding by a group of philanthropic organi- icant international meeting costs when they ratify the zations, which have announced fast-start funding Kigali Amendment because it is part of the Montreal of $53 million. Protocol and the vast majority of states regularly attend its meetings. Article 5 parties will participate Avoidance of trade controls in meetings with the support of the Trust Fund of the Article 4 of the Montreal Protocol restricts parties Montreal Protocol. from trading controlled substances with states not Costs of becoming a party to the Kigali party to the Protocol. The Kigali Amendment, when Article 4 enters into force17, will restrict trade in HFCs Amendment between parties and states that are not parties to the The administrative costs will include the costs of: Kigali Amendment. This means that there is an in- centive for states to ratify the Amendment before the • adapting existing laws or introducing new ones to associated trade restrictions enter into force.