PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. 

BACKGROUND: the European Union has already approved the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol and the four previous amendments to the Protocol.

At the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 15 October 2016, the text of a further amendment to the Montreal Protocol ("the Kigali Amendment") was adopted.

The Kigali amendment added a stepwise reduction in the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to the control measures of the Montreal Protocol.

This reduction is necessary to reduce the contribution of those substances to climate change and to prevent their unlimited introduction, in particular in developing countries.

The Kigali Amendment should now be approved.

CONTENT: the Council draft seeks to approve, on behalf of the European Union, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

The Kigali Amendment will enter into force on 1 January 2019, provided that at least 20 parties have deposited their instruments of ratification. It is a necessary contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, approved by Council Decision (EU) 2016/1841, as regards its objective to keep the global temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The text of the Kigali Amendment divides countries into three groups based on when they will have to reduce the use of HFCs. Together, countries will have to reduce HFC levels by 85% by 2047.

PURPOSE: to conclude the agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer adopted in Kigali.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

BACKGROUND: the European Union has already approved the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol and the four previous amendments to the Protocol.

At the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10th to 15th October 2016, the text of an amendment to that Protocol (the Kigali amendment) was adopted, adding a stepwise reduction of the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) to the control measures of the Montreal Protocol.

A stepwise reduction of the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons is necessary to reduce the contribution of those substances to climate change and to prevent their unlimited introduction, in particular in developing countries.

CONTENT: the proposal concerns the adoption by the Council of a decision on the conclusion of the agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer adopted in Kigali.

The Kigali Amendment will enter into force on 1 January 2019, provided that at least 20 parties have deposited their instruments of ratification. It is a necessary contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreement as regards its objective to keep the global temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The envisaged phase-down of HFCs is implemented through Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 that will have to be revised at a later stage in order to ensure compliance with the Kigali Amendment beyond 2030.

Until 2030, the last year for which the Regulation determines a reduction step, the phase-down schedule is stricter than the future control measures under the Montreal Protocol. A full impact assessment had been carried out. At this stage, no changes to the Regulation are envisaged that may affect companies.