China receives 265 million USD from the Multilateral Fund to reduce HCFC use

During its 64th meeting in Montreal, Canada, from July 25 to 29, 2011, the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund (MLF) – a  financial body established to help developing countries meet their Montreal Protocol commitments – has assessed ozone depleting substance (ODS) management plans submitted by dozens of countries including China, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico. The reductions approved will prevent over 62 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions.
In particular, the Executive Committee of the MLF granted China 265 million USD to cut its use of HCFCs by 2015. The country – which is the largest producer and consumer of HCFCs – will be using the grant to support its HCFC phase-out management plan, which when implemented, is intended to eliminate 3320 tons of HCFC consumption in the country. This plan also intends to strengthen policy implementation to restrict the growth of HCFC production capacity, and establish the production capacity of alternatives through a series of projects. It will also focus on reducing refrigerant leakage.
Following the plan and with the aid of the grant, China could see an overall reduction of about 17% of the country’s total amount of controlled HCFC use. In line with their efforts, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, the World Bank and the governments of Germany and Japan will assist China in its efforts.
 “The approval of China’s HCFC phase out management plan represents an extraordinary achievement by the Multilateral Fund and its stakeholders to reduce HCFC consumption,” said Maria Nolan, Chief Officer of the MLF. Through submitting this plan, China has made a longer term promise to entirely eliminate China’s HCFCs by 2030 with assistance from the MLF.
The MLF was established in 1991 and has since approved activities including industrial conversion, technical assistance, training and capacity building worth over 2.6 billion USD. Its main objective is to assist developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita consumption and production of ozone depleting substances is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures of the protocol.