29 April 2020, Dili - Timor-Leste has recently raised the bar in terms of its outreach of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer through a series of successful outreach events organized in March 2020 under its new ‘Ozone Week’ banner. Led by the National Ozone Unit (NOU) of the National Directorate of Climate Change, which is part of the State of Secretariat of Environment, these events helped mobilise support for the national ozone layer protection programme.
Timor-Leste is one of the world’s youngest nations, having become a member of the United Nations in 2002, and also one of the most recent countries to join the Montreal Protocol, which it ratified on 16 September 2009. Since ozone layer protection is still a relatively new subject for the general population, it is important for the NOU to conduct regular outreach to explain the issue to the public.
Marquee events for ‘Ozone Week’ on 19 and 20 March included exhibitions and a series of Talk Shows – panel discussions with key political and technical figures working on ozone protection in Timor-Leste. The events focused on controls on hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and new alternative technologies in the refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector, and shared information available in Timor-Leste. The State Secretary of State of Environment, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho, described the government’s plans for management of ozone depleting substances and the ratification of the Protocol's Kigali Amendment.
The Talk Show format engaged the audience in the topics and generated lively questions for the panellists about ozone science, the Montreal Protocol, and the use of R22 refrigerants in the country. Discussions shed light on topics like the challenges faced by importers and the Customs Authority on the management of HCFCs and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the adoption of alternative technologies in Timor-Leste, and training RAC technicians.
Although the NOU has organized similar awareness-raising activities in the past, this was the first time that it has deployed it's home-grown ‘Ozone Week’ brand to capture the public’s attention on the Montreal Protocol. “Our National Ozone Unit has been working hard to create the policies and rules of the road to ensure the ozone layer protection,” said, Mario Ximenes, Timor-Leste’s National Ozone Officer. “It’s vital that the public knows about this work because they play an important role in its success. We wanted to raise the bar with Ozone Week and get our message out to as many people as possible this year.”
The participants invited to this event included the Dom Bosco and Becora Training Centers, refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment importers and servicing companies (Startec Enterprise, Holiqun/Gree, Venedimick Air-Cond, NEC Servicing, Global Air-con, Unitech, Leader, and Lee Electrical), Directorates under the Secretariat of State of the Environment, Customs Authorities, relevant line ministries and students from several universities in Dili.
After the Talk show and exposition concluded, the NOU organised a quiz session during which awards were granted to those who participated.
To further outreach the event beyond the in-person attendance, several media outlets including GMN-TV and RTTL were also invited to attend and provide coverage, which helped disseminate information to the broader community.
“COVID-19 made Ozone Week more challenging, but we saw great engagement from the attendees,” said Luis Belo, Chief of the Department of the National Ozone Unit. “It’s an engagement we’ll look to increase in the future.”
The outreach events are part of the country's Institutional Strengthening supported by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol. UN Environment Programme OzonAction assists Timor-Leste in its role as an Implementing Agency of the Fund.
For more information:
Hu Shaofeng
Senior Regional Montreal Protocol Coordinator
Asia-Pacific, UNEP OzonAction
Email: hus[at]un.org
