Qatar
and UN Pave Way for Environmentally-Friendly,
Paper-Free Events
20th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal
Protocol and 8th Conference of the Parties
to the Vienna Convention
Paper-free or near paperless
conferences may soon be in sight under a
pioneering initiative by the Government
of Qatar and the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP), it was announced on 16 November
2008.
Delegates attending
an international conference on the protection
of the ozone layer are being issued with
laptops and given lessons on how to minimize
paper in terms of documents, reports and
publications.
Special software is
being utilized which will allow delegates
to share and amend papers during the six
day meeting taking place in the Qatari capital
Doha.
The initiative is also
expected to save greenhouse gas emissions
linked with the shipment of conference documents
and publications to and from meetings.
Key Issues at the Conference
The pilot comes as delegates
from over 150 countries are meeting under
the Montreal Protocol and Vienna Convention
on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
Issues before delegates
include destruction of ozone damaging substances
held in items such as fridges, fire-fighting
equipment and foams.
Many of these banked ozone-damaging chemicals
have climate change impacts too. Large amount
could, without action, be released as early
as 2015.
This could lead to the
equivalent of several billion tonnes of
C02 being pumped into the atmosphere.
Countries will also
discuss the sixth replenishment of the Multilateral
Fund-- which has so far spent over $2 billion
on assisting developing countries to phase
out ozone-killing chemicals and switch to
less harmful ones.
Countries are likely
to discuss a range of replenishment figures
from around $338 million to close to $630
million to cover the coming years including
the costs of accelerating the freeze and
phase-out of HCFCs— chemicals that can damage
the ozone layer but are now also known to
contribute to global warming too.
A significant agreement
to the accelerated freeze and phase-out
was made at the last meeting off the Montreal
Protocol held in the Canadian city from
where the treaty takes its name.
Countries will again
be seeking exemptions for a chemical known
as methyl bromide used for fumigating soils
against crop-damaging pests. However, the
quantities of exemptions being sought are
down by around 70 per cent from a few years
ago.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"The Montreal Protocol and the Vienna
Convention are among the outstanding examples
of international cooperation on the environment.
They have lead to a dramatic reduction in
the production and consumption of chemicals
that deplete the ozone layer—that thin layer
of high flying gas that protects all life
on Earth from deadly levels of ultra violet
rays".
"This week in Doha
governments need to keep that momentum up
including the necessary levels of funding
needed to complete this important work including
the challenge but also the opportunity presented
for both ozone and climate from the accelerated
freeze and phase-out of HCFCs," he
said.
Mr Steiner said the
paperless conference concept would be another
welcome and practical outcome of the meeting.
"Tens of millions
of tones of C02, the principle greenhouse
gas, are released as a result of the manufacture,
printing and shipping of paper in the form
of documents, publications and books. The
UN and its numerous meetings are no exception,"
he said.
"I would like to
thank the Government of Qatar for backing
this inspiring idea and look forward to
taking the concept forward —if we are successful
it could become a blue print across the
UN and who knows, perhaps one day we could
witness a near paperless or paper-free General
Assembly in New York," said Mr Steiner.
Waleed Al-Emadi, a senior
ozone expert at the Qatar Ministry of the
Environment, said: "In the United States
alone there have been estimates that a 10
per cent reduction in the use of paper in
offices could cut greenhouse gas emissions
by 1.6 billion tones".
"Less printing
also means less ink, less use of heavy metals
such as cadmium and less use of electricity.
Imagine the environmental improvements around
the world if paperless or near paper less
meetings and conferences can be part of
daily life."
Paper-free UNEP Governing
Council
The pilot is expected
to lead to an even bigger trial when the
world's environment ministers meet in Nairobi,
Kenya in February next year at the headquarters
of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Qatar Ministry of
the Environment is planning to donate a
large quantity of laptops complete with
the special software while dispatching IT
experts to make UNEP's Governing Council/Global
Ministerial Environment Forum as paper-free
as possible.
Many delegates attending
conferences also bring and return home with
large quantities of books and reports.
A study by UNEP on climate
neutrality, released in June this year to
mark World Environment Day 2008, estimated
that if every air passenger reduced their
luggage and carry on items by 20 Kg it could
reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by
two million tones a year.
UNEP's exhibition in
Doha will also be paperless and sport the
banner 'Are You looking for a UNEP Publication?
We Left it At Home!'.
In order to get delegates
on the paperless path, UNEP will be handing
out memory sticks and guides on how to download
publications while outlining the greenhouse
gas emissions saved by not carting loads
of documents back home.
Notes to Editors
The 20th Meeting of
the Parties to the Montreal Protocol is
taking place at the Sheraton Doha Conference
and Convention Centre.
Documents can
be accessed at ozone.unep.org
For More Information Please Contact Nick
Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of Media
Maria Soldanha, Communications and Information
Officer
