Decision 79/46

The Executive Committee decided:

1. To note the development of the cost guidelines for the phase-down of HFCs in Article 5 countries: draft guidelines on enabling activities (decision 78/4(a)) contained in document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/79/47;
2. To approve enabling activities for Article 5 Parties on the following basis:
   1. Countries would be allowed the flexibility to undertake a range of enabling activities to help their national ozone units to fulfil their initial obligations with regard to HFC phase-down in line with the Kigali Amendment;
   2. Enabling activities could consist of, but were not limited to:
      1. Activities to facilitate and support the early ratification of the Kigali Amendment;
      2. Initial activities identified in paragraph 20 of decision XXVIII/2, including country-specific activities aimed at initiating supporting institutional arrangements, the review of licensing systems, data reporting on HFC consumption and production, and demonstration of non-investment activities, and excluding institutional strengthening, as addressed in decision 78/4(b);
      3. National strategies that contained the activities in sub-paragraphs a. and b. above;
   3. Funding for the preparation of national implementation plans to meet initial reduction obligations for the phase-down of HFCs could be provided, at the earliest, five years prior to those obligations, after a country had ratified the Kigali Amendment and on the basis of guidelines to be approved in the future;
   4. Funding for stand-alone initial investment projects could be provided in accordance with the provisions of decision 79/45;
3. To provide funding for enabling activities referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) above prior to the preparation of the national implementation plan as specified in the table below, based on the country’s HCFC baseline consumption, on the understanding that no further funding for enabling activities, including for HFC-23 activities, would be provided prior to the preparation of national implementation plans:

4. That funding requests for enabling activities should meet the following requirements:
   1. Ratification of the Kigali Amendment by the government submitting the request or a receipt of letter from the government concerned indicating its intent to make best efforts to ratify the Kigali Amendment as early as possible;
   2. The inclusion of detailed descriptions, in project proposals, of each of the enabling activities that would be undertaken, including institutional arrangements, the cost breakdown and the schedule for implementation, consistent with Executive Committee guidelines;
   3. The duration of a project should be no more than 18 months, starting from the time of its approval, and balances should be returned to the Multilateral Fund within 12 months of that end date;
   4. Bilateral and implementing agencies should include any funding requests for enabling activities in their business plans, which could be submitted to the 80^th or subsequent meetings, and subsequently in their work programmes or work programme amendments;
   5. Any submission should also include a statement by both the country concerned and the relevant bilateral/implementing agency that implementation of the enabling activities would not delay implementation of HCFC phase-out projects; and
5. To invite bilateral and implementing agencies to submit, by the 80^th meeting, funding requests for enabling activities for countries that wanted to take early action on HFCs, with any proposal considered for funding at that meeting to be funded to the extent possible from additional voluntary contributions provided by non-Article 5 Parties.