The purpose of the TWG Policy is to bring together interested COPA Members, supported by invited external experts and consultants, to jointly work on identifying and developing policy interventions suitable for GHG mitigation measures in the ODS and HFC banks sector. The working group defines its own specific goals, its work plan, and implements activities together. Meetings take place on a regular basis. Results from the TWG are reported and presented on demand, including annually to the COPA Plenary.

Objectives

• Policy framework for different country baselines and policy alignment

o How can we ensure that policies are effectively aligned with regulations? How
can we drive policies, strategies, and mitigation towards HFCs and ODS phaseout and sustainable management of ODS and HFC banks?
o Experience of successful policy frameworks for addressing ODS and HFC banks

• ODS disposal plan for India (customs receive ODS for disposal but don’t have suitable
means)

• Leakage reduction (e.g. in supermarket refrigeration)

• How can we avoid reclaimed refrigerant going back into leaky equipment or displacing
alternatives

• EPR regulations
• Centralized data records
• Export/import regulations and transboundary movement (Basel convention)
• Carbon markets
• Business models
• Integration of the ODS and HFC banks sector into NDCs

Overview of the work in 2024

During 2024, the working group activities for advancing global and national policies towards sustainable ODS/HFC banks management and real emissions reductions, focused on bringing forward position papers from COPA on a variety of cross-cutting themes. Both the Steering Committee and the members took the driving seat for the development and approval of two COPA position papers on HFO and Safeguards. In alignment with the policy working group, these positions by the COPA member community will help drive the development of such policies on a larger stage as well.

In the new year, the policy activities of the working group will be decided in an interactive exchange with the members and the coordinators. Members are welcome to send a mail to the Secretariat and the TWG coordinators if they have ideas or suggestions.

Overview of the Work in 2023

In 2023 four meetings took place:

1. An online expert talk was organized by the TWG Policy to exchange with a representative from Australia or Japan or Europe (for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), or Canada to share and discuss their experiences with EPR. A two-pager on EPR in different countries will be prepared and shared in advance to the expert talk

2. As a follow-up, similar expert talks might follow with other country experiences to deepen the knowledge exchange and highlight 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.

We are looking forward to addressing more interesting topics in 2024.