85th meeting of the Executive Committee, Montreal, 2020

Introduction

The 85^th meeting of the Executive Committee, which took place via an online inter-sessional approval process from 21 May to 3 June 2020, and in a formal online session on 9 April 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was attended by the representatives of the 14 Executive Committee members Parties and by participants co‑opted from 19 other countries (see attached list). Ms. Juliet Kabera of Rwanda presided as Chair of the Executive Committee The Executive Secretary and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat, representatives of implementing agencies (IAs), and UNEP as the Treasurer were also present.

The agenda for the 85th meeting included among other items, financial matters related to contributions and the status of the Fundand tranche submission delays. Matters under programme implementation included reports on specific projects, and the 2020 work programmes. Project proposals considered included inter alia stage II of HPMPs for five countries, tranches of HPMPs and activities for the fast start implementation of HFC phase-down activities, namely enabling activities.

The Committee took a total of 36 decisions, and approved projects and work programme activities for 60 countries with a value of US $34,972,943 including support costs for bilateral and IAs.

Financial matters

Status of contributions and disbursements (decision 85/1)

As at 30 May 2020, the balance of the Multilateral Fund stood at US $298,354,827, all of it in cash. The percentage of payments against the total pledges for 2020 stood at 63 per cent and the loss stemming from the fixed exchange-rate mechanism (FERM) had increased by US $348,373 since the 84^th meeting. The cumulative loss owing to the FERM since its inception in 2000 stood at US $32.8 million.

The Executive Committee urged all Parties to pay their contributions to the Multilateral Fund in full and as early as possible. The Chief Officer and the Treasurer were requested to continue following up with Parties that had outstanding contributions for one triennium or more, and to report back at the 86^th meeting.

Programme implementation

Status reports and reports on projects with specific reporting requirements (decisions 85/2 – 85/19)

The Executive Committee considered the reports on projects with specific reporting requirements[1] including ODS waste disposal projects; demonstration projects for low-global-warming potential (GWP) alternatives to HCFCs; financial audit reports for the CFC production, halon, polyurethane foam, process agent II, refrigeration servicing and solvent sectors in China; temporary use of a high-GWP technology in approved projects; and progress reports, or specific requests, related to stage I or stage II of HPMPs for nine countries. The Committee noted the reports on the implementation of the projects and made a number of decisions to approve or follow up on specific issues. The Committee also approved the requests for extension of enabling activities for HFC phase down submitted by the respective implementing agencies for nine Article 5 countries. Consideration of the progress report on implementation of stage I of the HPMP for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the financial audit reports for the CFC production, halon, polyurethane foam, process agent II, refrigeration servicing and solvent sectors in China was deferred to the 86th meeting.

Project proposals

Issues related to project review

The Executive Committee noted that all decisions made during the intersessional approval process were taken on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent for future Executive Committee decisions, in addition to the projects and activities submitted for blanket approval contained in the document[2], the Executive Committee agreed to consider during the intersessional approval process the following issues presented in the document: potential delay in implementation of time-sensitive HFC-related activities; servicing tail in the context of an HPMP for the total phase-out of HCFCs; and verification reports of low-volume-consuming (LVC) countries’ compliance with their HPMP agreements, and to defer consideration of all other matters described in the document inter alia requests for project preparation for HFC phase-down plans submitted as part of the work programmes of UNDP, UNEP and UNIDO for 2020, to the 86^th meeting. During the intersessional approval process, members raised questions relating to the matter related to the servicing tail in the context of an HPMP for the total phase-out of HCFCs, and the Executive Committee then agreed to defer consideration of it to the 86th meeting.

Potential delay in implementation of time-sensitive HFC-related activities (decision 85/20)

The Executive Committee requested bilateral and IAs, should continue to assist Article 5 countries in implementing the ongoing activities considering the constraints imposed by COVID‑19, irrespective of their completion dates, and report back to the 86^th meeting on those specific activities that required an extension of their completion dates.

Verification reports of LVC countries’ compliance with their HPMP agreements (decision 85/21)

The Executive Committee requested bilateral and IAs, should agencies to include in their amendments to their respective work programmes, due for submission to the 86^th meeting, funding in the amount of US $30,000 plus agency support costs for verification reports for stage II or stage III of the HCFC phase-out management plans (HPMPs) for 16 countries.[3]

Approved projects (decisions 85/22 to 85/36)

The Executive Committee approved investment projects and work programme activities for 59 countries at a total value of US $32,656,343. The Executive Committee approved the projects and activities submitted for blanket approval at the levels of funding indicated, together with the conditions or provisions included in the corresponding project evaluation documents and the conditions attached to the projects by the Executive Committee (decision 85/22). The costs of the bilateral HCFC-related projects and the enabling activities for HFC phase-down approved at the 85th meeting were offset against the balances of bilateral contributions of three contributing countries (decision 85/23).

HCFC phase‑out activities

The Executive Committee approved stage II of the HPMPs for Afghanistan, Albania, Malawi, Montenegro, and Serbia with total funding approved in principle of US $2,797,285. A total of US $32,158,980, was provided for tranches of stage I/stage II of HPMPs [including sector plans] for 9 countries including the first tranches of the new stage II of HPMPs for five countries. Funding amounting to US $33,900, was provided for verification activities for stage I of the HPMP for Liberia and US $496,400 for funding preparation for stage II and III of HPMPs for 5 countries.

HFC‑related project proposals

The Executive Committee approved US $476,150, including agency support costs, for HFC‑related enabling activities for four countries: Belize, Burundi, Guinea, and the Republic of Moldova.

Institutional strengthening

The Committee approved the extension of IS projects for 14 countries[4] at an amount of US $1,369,891.

Other matters

Report of the 85th meeting

A complete record of all decisions made at the 85th meeting can be found in the “Report of the Eighty‑fifth Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol”[5] which is published on the Multilateral Fund’s website (www.multilateralfund.org) and available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.

Attendance at the 85th meeting of the Executive Committee

[1] UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/85/9

[2] UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/85/13

[3] Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guyana, Haiti, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, North Macedonia, Republic of Moldova (the), Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Timor-Leste.

[4] Bahrain, Georgia, Guinea, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Maldives, Mozambique, Nepal. Qatar, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

[5] UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/85/67