The US efforts to form a contact group for negotiating on phasing out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), under the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances, failed on the last day of talks on Friday.
According to sources, the US was making an effort to form a formal contact group for negotiations on the greenhouse refrigerant gases. However, opposition from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was able to defer the matter. The sources said the issue of contact group is likely to be taken up once again over the next session of the Montreal Protocol talks.
Lack of consensus between countries during the informal discussions was another hurdle for the formation of a contact group.
Minister for Environment and Forests, Prakash Javadekar, who was attending the UN talks, said that the success of Montreal Protocol was based on the consensus and the fact that all the parties worked together towards the goal. That spirit should be maintained, he said.
Javadekar suggested that there should be a global effort at collaborative research on alternative technologies to HFCs.
The Minister is believed to have held bilateral talks with high-level delegates of at least 20 countries on climate issues.
(The reporter is in Paris on the invitation of The Centre for Science and Environment)