News

5 May 2020, Doha, Qatar – The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on the world, what UN Secretary General  António Guterres calls "a public health emergency… an economic crisis, a social crisis and a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis." While the world is grappling with this multifaceted challenge, most of humanity is now experiencing the “Great Lockdown” where in-person gatherings have been replaced by social distancing to protect public health.

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.

Collaboration between China and Thailand using OzonAction’s informal Prior Informed Consent (iPIC) system has resulted in the prevention of a huge consignment of ozone-depleting and climate damaging hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Those chemicals, which are primarily used as refrigerants for air conditioners and fridges, are controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and are being phased out by all countries according to a specific timeline.

Paris, 7 April 2020 — World Refrigeration Day (WRD) is an international commemorative day that raises awareness about the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry and its contribution to modern life, as well as its connection to key societal objectives including mitigating climate change, protecting the ozone layer, and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Inaugurated in 2019, the initiative is well recognized and supported by leading industry associations and organizations around the globe, as well as governments and non-governmental organisations.

6 January 2020, Muscat  ̶  Refrigeration and air conditioning is at the heart of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Bangkok, 24 December 2019   ̶  How well Ozone Officers and their teams do in their work – developing projects, managing national strategies, reporting data, developing and enforcing policies, working with national and international institutions – directly or indirectly affects the status of their country's compliance with its obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

In late November and mid-December 2019, both the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in cooperation with UNEP OzonAction and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigerating Institute (AHRI), advanced the Refrigerant Driving License (RDL) program by conducting technicians training sessions under the pilot stage of the RDL program targeting 31 local technicians who were trained and tested against RDL minimum requirements of competencies and skills.

22 November 2019, Kampala, Uganda  ̶  Today saw the close of a three-day twinning workshop and border dialogues for National Ozone Officers and Customs officials from countries of the East African Region – Africa Anglophone Network.

Rome, Italy, 8 November 2019 – Through organizing six technical sessions and signing five memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with key global refrigeration and air-conditioning associations, UNEP OzonAction is fostering ties with key industry stakeholders and experts from the HVAC&R community.

Ashgabat, 30 September - 2 October 2019 - The Government of Turkmenistan hosted a series of meetings and a full-day stakeholder consultation with high-level Government representatives and experts, during the 3-day visit of Mr. Gilbert Bankobeza, Senior Legal Officer of the Ozone Secretariat in Nairobi, and Mr. Halvart Koeppen, Coordinator of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Montreal Protocol Network of UNEP OzonAction in Paris.

ATLANTA, Nov. 6, 2019 – ASHRAE and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have announced the project selections for the 2019 ASHRAE-UNEP OzonAction Lower-GWP Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Innovation Awards. The annual international award program promotes innovative design, research and practice by recognizing people who have developed or implemented innovative technological concepts applied in developing countries to promote lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants through refrigeration and air-conditioning applications.

Ulaanbaatar, 29 August 2019 – The Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the National Ozone Authority of Mongolia in cooperation with UN Environment Programme (UNEP), organized an “Ozone2Climate (O2C) Technologies Roadshow and Industry Roundtable” in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 26-27 August 2019, with participation of industry, research institutes, education and training centers, and government agencies.

Koror, Palau, 16 August 2019 — Besides training of enforcement officers, what other practices are effective for monitoring and enforcing national laws and regulations relating to hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and other ozone depleting substances (ODS)?

Koror, Palau, 12 August 2019 — What are the challenges and policy options for the Pacific Island Countries (PIC) to sustain compliance with Montreal Protocol obligations notwithstanding that most countries have achieved more than 90% reduction in HCFC consumption in 2018?  How should the PIC countries prepare themselves to meet initial obligations under the Kigali Amendment especially in ensuring

UN Environment OzonAction organized the 8th China Ozone2Climate Technology Roadshow and Industry Roundtable in Shanghai

QUITO, ECUADOR, 5 November 2018 -  At the 30th Meeting of Parties of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, UN Environment Programme OzonAction and ASHRAE held a side event on Refrigerant Management Tools for countries operating under Article 5 of the Protocol. These tools were developed under a long-standing partnership between the OzonAction and ASHRAE.