Click here to read EIA’s new report for the 22^nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol: Maximizing Climate Benefits from Ozone Protection.

The 22^nd Meeting of the Parties in Bangkok will decide whether to begin a phase-out on the use and production of hydrofluorocarbons. HFC’s are primarily used in refrigeration and air conditioning in favour of climate friendly alternatives. It is estimated that eliminating HFCs would prevent 88-140 billion tons of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2050. The Montreal Protocol was originally tasked with restoring the Earth’s ozone layers. Parties must now consider enlarging its mandate to include limiting and eliminating green house gas emissions from ozone depleting substances (ODS), ODS substitutes and ODS by-products. To learn more about these issues and to see what EIA is presenting at the Montreal Protocol MOP, read the report and press release.

Click here to read EIA and Global Witness’s new report that investigates the global trade in Madagascar’s precious woods.

Undercover investigations by EIA and Global Witness over the past year exposed the illicit trade in Madagascar’s precious woods such as rosewood, ebony and pallisander. The bulk of these exports serve the lucrative furniture markets of China, with some pieces being sold at upwards of $1 million. Small quantities of these exports head to Europe and the US for use in the manufacturing of musical instruments. These markets facilitate and promote the demand for Madagascar’s precious woods, which has decimated the country’s few remaining precious forests. To learn more about these issues and to see what EIA uncovered during their investigations, read the report and read the press release.