Success at the upcoming COP21 climate talks could stem from a positive outcome to discussions on ozone-harming gases, the UN’s lead official on the topic has told Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels.

Countries are divided over whether discussions on gases that harm the ozone layer should come under a new global climate deal or whether they can be regulated under the Montreal Protocol, whose Secretariat and Multilateral Fund are hosted by UNEP.

The 27th Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol, which regulates the hydrofluorocarbons used in place of ozone-depleting substances, will take place in Dubai in November. The Paris COP21 UNFCCC climate talks will begin later that month.

Ms. Tina Birmpili is Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Agreement at MOP27 can drive success at the Paris meeting, she told MEPs from the European Parliament’s Environment Committee during her intervention on 23 September.

Success factors for the Montreal Protocol include having an effective science-policy interface, commitment from developed and developing countries and the involvement of more than 190 states, UNEP’s ozone chief explained before MEPs.

Yet definitions of ‘success’ vary and a definition of ‘success’ for COP21 is yet to be defined, Ms Birmpili underlined.

For more information contact: alexa.froger@unep.org