Management and Destruction of ODS Banks

Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) in existing stockpiles of chemicals and products that are being discarded because they are no longer useful or replaced in connection with energy efficiency programs, so called ‘ODS banks’, threaten to leak into the atmosphere, potentially jeopardizing the repair of the ozone layer and posing significant threats to the global climate.

Because of these threats, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol instructed the Multilateral Fund (MLF) in 2007 to finance ODS bank destruction pilot projects in developing countries.

UNDP is implementing several of such pilot ODS banks related projects, which are instrumental in helping to determine the economic feasibility of collection and destruction strategies. Results from these pilot projects will help to identify and secure funding necessary to collect and destroy ODS banks on a larger scale.

Examples of such projects are:

The destruction of ODS banks in developing countries has the potential to reduce 4 – 6 billon tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions over the next 20 – 30 years.

Topics in Protecting the Ozone Layer and Safeguarding the Global Climate

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UNDP receives award for exceptional contribution to protecting Earth’s ozone layer

On 10 December 2012 the Executive Secretary of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Marco Gonzalez, has presented a special award to UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. The award recognizes UNDP’s exceptional contribution to the success of the Montreal Protocol which this year marks its 25th anniversary. More.

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