India today voiced concerns over lack of verifiable data on Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which is critical for calculating the baseline and deciding upon a deadline to phase out the potent greenhouse gases.
The 38th meeting of the Open Ended Working Group of Parties to the Montreal Protocol is going on here to workout the process of moving away from high Global Warming Potential (GWP) HFCs reducing global warming.
During the annual meeting developing and developed countries reiterated their commitment to limit increase in global warming.
196 countries which are party to the Montreal Protocol agreed that absence of verifiable historical data is a challenge in establishing a baseline for developing and developed countries.
"The Indian delegation highlighted the importance of having verifiable data on HFCs to calculate the baseline and deciding upon a deadline. As such having baseline in the past without objective verifiable data is not logical, in the absence of which, it will be difficult to deal with future and work with uncertainties," an official statement said.
Actual data on production and consumption of HFCs is necessary for "understanding the historical evolution and establishing a baseline". The baseline is instrumental in determining future consumption and emissions.
Many parties like Canada, Norway, Japan and EU have submitted that they have got reliable data for historical HFC consumption.
"Such data is not in public domain, besides data for most developing countries is not available at all. Some of the parties raised strong concerns that many countries in this grouping do not have an accounting system and inventory of HFCs in place," the statement added.
India had earlier this week submitted a Conference Room Paper (CRP) aimed at improving the transparency and flexibility of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol (MLF).
The Indian submission emphasised on five key issues including developing guidelines for incorporating the principle of flexibility, improving understanding of methodologies for calculating incremental cost, developing cost guidance for enhancing energy efficiency, increasing institutional strengthening for supporting any new commitments, and prioritising technical assistance for building capacity to address safety issues.
