EU, Latin America oppose exception shown to US

Developed nations are to freeze use of the chemical by 2005 and developing nations by 2015. reports Chetan Chauhan.

Published on: Nov 4, 2006, 01:41:00 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The European Union and Latin America have strongly opposed the exception been sought by US under the Montreal Protocol to use methyl bromide for agricultural purposes.

Methyl bromide is considered most lethal Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) as it’s molecules take seven to break down and till then depletes the ozone layer. The chemical is used as fumigant for high-value crops, pest controls, and quarantine treatment of agricultural commodities awaiting export. Total world annual consumption for controlled uses is estimated to be about 30,000 tonnes.

Under the protocol, the developed nations have to freeze use of the chemical by 2005 and developing nations by 2015. However, exemptions are given to developed countries for limited use with United Nation Environment Programme giving incentives for phasing out.

US has sought exemption to use 8,063 tonnes of the chemical which was opposed by EU, Switzerland and Latin American countries, saying that such exemption will not help in phasing out of the lethal chemical. They wanted US to take a lead in phasing out methyl bromide. The issue was being discussed till late Friday evening.

In two-day main conference, the need to have linkages between Montreal and Kyoto Protocol was also discussed. Many substances banned under Montreal Protocol are promoted under Kyoto Protocol. Countries like India and Argentina wanted that both the international protocols should achieve their objectives working in a tandem.

Marco Gonzalez, Executive Secretary, Montreal Protocol, said three major agreements have been reached that include determination to meet the challenges of next 10 years, working on ODS domestically and further curbs on illegal trade of ODS, which is said to be 20 times the legal trade.

Email Chetan Chauhan: chetan@hindustantimes.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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