COPA goes COP28 – side event on sustainable ODS and HFC banks management
On 1 December 2023 the Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance was introduced to interested participants of the COP28 in Dubai. The side event was organized by GIZ, the COPA secretariat, in the context of the first Montreal Protocol Pavilion at a Conference of Parties. The focus of this side event was to highlight the climate relevance of emission reduction potential by sustainably managing ODS and HFC banks.
The global demand for refrigeration and air conditioning is rising sharply. These appliances and products contain high warming potential substances, known as Ozon Depleting Substances (ODS) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which emit around 1.5 Gt CO2 eq annually. Currently, there are no global agreements in place to address the challenge of accumulating ODS and HFS bank in old cooling equipment. This reduction potential is being addressed by the Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance (COPA) by working together on solutions for ODS and HFC banks, contributing to the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming. “The Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance looks into these challenges and by that contributes to the Agenda 2030,“ said Ellen Michel, GIZ Proklima and Head of the COPA Secretariat.
The event started with opening remarks by Rachel Wilke from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Ellen Michel from GIZ Proklima then gave an overview on the activities of the Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance (COPA). Complementary actions such as learnings from previous pilot projects and a new funding window for ODS inventories were presented by Sonja Wagner from UNEP Ozone Action. Furthermore, Ms. Guo Xiaolin from the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office (FECO) of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China gave some insight on experiences gathered in China. Stuart Fleming from EnviroServe provided the audiences with some insights from the private sector working on reclamation of refrigerants in the United Arab Emirates.
