The World Bank controls the money for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which is supposed to help developing countries switch to ozone-friendly alternatives. However, the Bank has turned this into a profit engine for chemical companies. While many countries are switching to safer and cheaper alternatives, the Bank drags its feet and overwhelmingly supports the transnational chemical companies.

The British Antarctic Survey states that if ozone continues to disappear over the Antarctic at the same rate as it is now, there will be none left in October 2005. While production of CFCs has been curtailed, the levels of CFCs in the upper atmosphere are still increasing, so things will get worse before the effect of the current cuts are felt.

Alternatives exist. Greenpeace, along with an East German company, developed a domestic refrigerator which runs on butane as a coolant and cyclopentane in the insulation foam. The "Greenfreeze" has now been taken up by major manufacturers Bosch-Siemens, Liebherr, Electrolux, and Matsushita. The World Bank has approved this technology as a viable alternative, yet out of 176 projects only one takes this route. Instead, the Bank prefers to fund projects using the ozone-destroying HCFCs and global warming HFCs put up by chemical giants like ICI, Du Pont and Atochem.

The World Bank And Ozone Depletion By Numbers

1. Total developing country use of ozone depleting substances (1991)- 150,000 tonnes a year
2. Percentage increase in developing country use of ozone depleting substances (1986-1991) - 54%
3. Total funds allocated to date for the Montreal Protocol implementing agencies - US$152.1 million
4. Amount of Montreal Protocol funds allocated to the World Bank- US$92.2 million
5. Number of projects administered by the Bank - 176
6. Percentage of Montreal Protocol funds administered by the Bank- 60.6%
7. Percentage of funds allocated to the Bank that have been disbursed - 6.2%
8. Total tons of Ozone Destroying Substances (ODS) phased out to date - 951
9. Tons of ODS phased out to date by the Bank - 245
10. Tons of ODS to be phased out by Bank projects approved to date: 21,434
11. Percentage of Bank's approved ODS phase-out that has actually been phased out - 0.011%
12. Percentage of Bank's phase-out to date accomplished by using "reduced CFC" technology - 81%
13. Percentage of all agency project funding slated for HCFCs and HFCs - at least 60%
14. Funds allocated to Bank for refrigeration and foam sector projects - US$48.3 million
15. Refrigeration and foam projects, as percentage of total Bank Montreal Protocol projects - 52%
16. Percentage of Bank refrigeration and foam sector projects that fund chemical company alternatives - 94.4%
17. Number of Bank projects that use "greenfreeze" technology - 1
18. Number of Ozone Operations Resource Group (OORG: the Bank's technical advisory body) sector chairs: 7
19. Percentage of OORG sector chairs with strong ties to chemical companies: 100
20. Number of OORG sector chairs now employed by ICI - 2

Greenpeace Demands

• The World bank must immediately stop funding 50%-reduced-CFC, HCFC and HFCs projects.
• The World Bank must immediately expedite the process of funds disbursement to developing countries.
• The World Bank should balance its expertise in the Ozone Operations Resource Group (OORG) with experts in not-in-kind technologies.

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