European Commission

The European Commission presented on August 1, 2008, a proposal to amend current Regulation 2037/2000 on ozone depleting substances (ODS) highlighting the interplay between both the ozone depleting and global warming effect from such substances (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ozone/pdf/sec_2366_en.pdf). The draft amended regulation: -brings forward the production phase-out of HCFCs from 2025 to 2020* in line with the recent decision under the Montreal Protocol adopted by the Parties in 2007; -introduces a list of new ODSs in the regulation for the first time for which the reporting of volumes produced and imported is required; -tightens current provisions on the recovery and destruction of ODS contained in products and equipment ("ODS banks"). The Commission will be "empowered to compile a list of products and equipment for which recovery, or destruction without prior recovery, of controlled substances shall be considered technically and economically feasible, and therefore mandatory". In the press release that accompanies the proposed regulation, estimates suggest that "by 2015 the global ODS banks will add up to 2 million ozone-depleting potential (ODP) tonnes or 13.4 billion tonnes of CO2eq - hence the need for further action". Priorities of the European Commission "will notably include ensuring that the global phase-out of HCFCs leads to the introduction of climate-friendly alternatives, tackling ODS banks in developing countries, reducing and monitoring global controls on new ODSs adequately and, if necessary, stepping them up". *: 2020 corresponds to the ban on production; ban on use of virgin HCFCs is from 2010 (see "The HCFC challenge")