Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Analytical Chemistry Seminar: Dr. Federico San Martini

Monday March 13 2017 @ 12:00 pm
to 1:00 pm

March

13

Mon

2017

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Event Type
Seminar
Availability

Open to Public

Audience
  • CIRES employees
  • CU Boulder employees
  • General Public
  • NOAA employees
  • Science collaborators
  • Host
    CIRES, CU Boulder

    Jointly sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CIRES, and the Environmental Program
    Science Diplomacy: Lessons from recent updates to the Montreal Protocol
    Dr. Federico San Martini,
    Secretariat for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol
    Abstract:
    "On 15 October 2016, after 7 years of consultations, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted an amendment in Kigali, Rwanda that added hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to the list of substances controlled under the Protocol. Under the Amendment, countries committed to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80 percent, and agreed to provisions to control HFC-23 by-product emissions. Implementation of the Amendment will avoid more than 80 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2050. The Montreal Protocol has been called the most successful environmental treaty to date, and the Kigali Amendment the single largest contribution to date towards keeping global temperature rise below 2 oC. Why is the Montreal Protocol considered so successful, how will the amendment contribute to climate protection efforts, and how did science inform the policy process? This talk will explore how science informed policy in the Montreal Protocol, and what lessons could be applied to other fora. Time permitting, we will also discuss international air quality monitoring efforts at diplomatic facilities."
    Dr. San Martini has worked for many years on science-policy issues related to air quality, short-lived climate forcers and stratospheric ozone protection. He obtained his PhD with Prof. McRae at MIT, and postdoced with Prof Mario Molina working in Air Pollution in Mexico City, before taking a position with the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology at the National Academies. He moved to the State Department as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, first working on water resources, and then on air quality, short-lived climate forcers and stratospheric ozone protection. While at the State Department Ico was instrumental in establishing the air quality monitoring network at U.S. diplomatic facilities and ensuring that air quality data is publicly available to researchers. More recently he joined the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund Secretariat where he works on projects related to ozone- and climate-protection.