International conference on the protection of the ozone layer in Bali concluded
The Joint Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention and the Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol was concluded in Bali this Friday. Several decisions were made on further international funding for the protection of the ozone layer as well as on several technical issues regarding the implementation of the two agreements.
The key result of the conference was the decision to replenish the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol to help developing and industrialising countries comply with their obligations of phasing out the production and use of ozone-depleting substances. Since the establishment of the fund, industrialised countries have supplied more than 2 billion US dollars to help developing countries. This made a crucial contribution to the 98 percent reduction in the use and production of ozone-depleting substances already achieved by the Protocol.
Additional contributions of 450 million US dollars were agreed in Bali for the period from 2012 to 2014. Despite the financial problems of numerous donor countries, the funding for measures to protect the ozone layer has remained stable since the last decision to replenish the fund in 2009. The recipient countries are thus able to fulfil their obligations until 2014. Germany, providing around 8 percent of the amount, is the third largest contributor.