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| Standing
for the Sri Lankan national anthem, from left to right:
Gunewardana; Wickremanayeke; Kakakhel; Milton Catelin, President
of MOP-12; Graber; and Nelson Sadogal, Chief Scientific Officer,
Ozone Secretariat. |
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| Kandyan
dancers performing during the opening ceremony |
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 Milton
Catelin, MOP-12 President (right), opened the
high-level segment. He urged Parties to ratify the Protocol's
amendments and expressed concern over the delay in appointing
the new Ozone Secretariat Executive Secretary.
Dinesh
Gunawardena, Sri Lankan Minister of Transport and Environment,
commented that Sri Lanka is ahead of schedule in meeting
its Montreal Protocol obligations. Noting Sri Lanka's concern
over climate change as a small island State, he underscored
cooperation among developed and developing countries.
Shafqat
Kakakhel, UNEP Deputy Executive Director (center),
welcomed delegates on behalf of UNEP Executive Director
Klaus Töpfer, and thanked Sri Lanka for its hospitality.
He said the low cost of CFCs and the export of used CFC-dependent
equipment to developing countries may impede Article 5 Party
compliance. He urged the Multilateral Fund to facilitate
accelerated reduction of CFC production in Article 5 Parties.
He flagged illegal trade and new ODS as additional challenges
to the ozone layer's recovery.
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| Ratnasiri
Wickremanayeke, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, welcomed
delegates to Sri Lanka and underscored the importance
of strengthened international cooperation to protect
the ozone layer. He stated that Sri Lanka uses relatively
small amounts of CFCs and plans to phase them out by
2005, and has already implemented regulations to control
ODS imports. He assured delegates that Sri Lanka would
meet its commitment to protecting the ozone layer, and
appealed to the global community to do the same. |
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| View
of the conference hall during the opening ceremony |
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Envelope
bearing the new stamp issued by the Sri Lankan Postal Service
to commemorate MOP-13. The stamp was officially unveiled at
the conclusion of the opening ceremony of the high-level segment. |
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| Election
of officers |
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| Delegates
elected by acclamation Katana Ngala (Kenya) as MOP-13 President.
Ngala (left) is shown here with Graber. |
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| Tribute
to Széll and Kraus |
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| MOP-12
President Catelin paid tribute to Patrick Széll (UK,
above left) and Heinrich Kraus (Germany, above right),
who are retiring from the ozone process, lauding their contributions
to protecting the ozone layer. |
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