Policy Framework

Policy Framework

While the international community has agreed to regulate the production and consumption of ODS by the Montreal Protocol (1987) and to phase-down HFCs with its Kigali Amendment (2016), no agreements have been made regarding the destruction of the ODS and HFCs already produced. For countries of the Global South in particular, the collection, reclamation and destruction of waste containing ODS and HFCs present challenges as they generally lack the appropriate political and regulatory framework and infrastructure.

A comprehensive set of policies, both on international and national level, can promote sustainable ODS/HFC banks management and contribute to cutting emissions. By overcoming and removing well-known barriers through concerted action, a clear policy framework sets boundaries and provides a clear indication of preferred behavior for management options for stakeholders. It distributes responsibilities to market proponents, ideally monitors the implementation of actions and enables sanctioning of those who do not follow their regulatory obligations. This includes a broad range of policies from accounting principles and market guidance to a robust monitoring system to ensure compliance. For an effective management of refrigerants and foams at end-of-life, suitable policy measures are required like venting bans or mandatory recovery. COPA has been jointly working on identifying and developing policy interventions suitable for GHG mitigation measures in the ODS and HFC banks sector.

 

COPA has been fostering the exchange on

How can we ensure that policies are effectively aligned with regulations? How can we drive policies, strategies, and mitigation towards HFCs and ODS phase out and sustainable management of ODS and HFC banks?

Experience of successful policy frameworks for addressing ODS and HFC banks

 

Different Thematic Working Group meetings have taken place:

1. An online expert talk was organized by the TWG Policy to exchange with a representative from Australia to share and discuss their experiences with EPR.
2. As a follow-up, an expert talk with Viet Nam followed highlighting that country experience to deepen the knowledge exchange and focusing on different aspects such as timing, effectiveness, etc.
3. In addition, a virtual workshop on EPR and the link to import / export regulations was organized as a deep dive for TWG Policy members who actively want to move forward here.
4. Carbon markets, as well as including the ODS and HFC banks sector in NDCs and potentially generating ITMOs was worked upon. The work also provided inputs for the side event hosted by COPA at COP28

 

Activities

The Thematic Working Group Policy Framework brings together interested COPA Members to jointly work on identifying and developing policy interventions suitable for GHG mitigation measures.

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