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Beirut, Lebanon, 11 November 2020 ‒ As part of the 4th International ASHRAE Conference on Efficient Building Designs that took place from 5-6 November 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon, organized jointly by ASHRAE and the American University in Beirut (AUB), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction organized a special live session on “Policies and Codes to Enable Compliance with the Montreal Protocol.”

Bangkok, 22 October 2020 ‒ The Pacific region is renowned for its serene and prestigious islands, including its diverse and rich ecosystems, but that natural and human wealth continues to face the major threat of climate change.

Damascus, Syria, 27 October 2020 ‒ Despite the challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Syrian Arabic Republic continues to honour its commitments under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and is preparing itself for the next phase of this multilateral environmental agreement: the phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are widely used in refrigeration, air conditioning and foam manufacturing.

Following an analysis of HFC baseline scenarios for Article 5 group 1 countries in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, it appeared that most countries would not “automatically” meet the HFC freeze in 2024 without putting in place additional HFC policy and legislative measures. If countries allowed a fixed annual HFC growth rate of 10%, the resulting HFC consumptions in 10 out of 11 countries (91%) would exceed the freeze level in 2024.

The following stories from Mexico and Mongolia are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."   MARINA JOSEFINA PEREZ MONTIIEL (MEXICO)

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 24 September 2020 ‒ Africa has witnessed an important milestone by the establishment of the first regional refrigeration and air-conditioning association, the Union of African Associations of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Actors (U-3ARC).  U-3ARC was registered and launched with th

National Ozone Officers have the great responsibility of managing the allocation and monitoring of quotas for substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol. This process can be complex with many importers, especially if the country imports a range of different hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and mixtures containing HCFCs. To address this challenge, OzonAction developed a new desktop application that helps Ozone Officers with the tasks of planning, calculating, monitoring and managing consumption quotas and licences.

The ozone layer in the stratosphere absorbs a portion of the sun radiation; therefore, ozone layer depletion has been linked to many harmful effects, including skin cancer, cataracts, and damage to some crops and marine life.

OZONE FOR LIFE - 35 YEARS OF OZONE LAYER PROTECTION ------------------------------------RELATEDCommemorating World Ozone Day, 16 September 2020 - country activities  

CLICK HERE TO VIEW HOW COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD COMMEMORATED WORLD OZONE DAY, 16 September 2020 --------------------------------------------

The following three stories from Malawi are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."   MARY KAPETE I have always had a passion for fixing electrical equipment, and when I realized that the RAC course had no women technicians in our area I took on the challenge of being the only woman doing it.

One of the central features of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is that it regulates the international trade of certain chemicals that do harm to our Earth's protective shield, the stratospheric ozone layer, and also contribute to climate change. The treaty relies on compliance and enforcement of national customs regulations, import-export licensing systems, and other laws that restrict or prohibit those substances from entering a country's borders.

Bangkok, 18 August 2020 –  Accurate and timely data are the bedrock of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The data collected and reported by individual Parties to this multilateral environmental agreement are used for many purposes ranging from assessing a country's compliance to determining its eligibility for financial support.

The following story by FOTOUH AL-RAGOM from Kuwait is an extract from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."  

22 July 2020, Bangkok - For Pacific Island nations, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an unwanted distraction from a more existential crisis: climate change. With rising sea levels threatening to erase some countries from the map, perhaps it is no surprise that these same countries have been some of the most proactive during the pandemic in driving forward efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The following two stories from Iran are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."

As part of the 2020 celebrations for the World Refrigeration Day (WRD); the WRD Secretariat, ASHRAE, European Partnership for Energy and Environment (EPEE), the Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC), the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) and UNEP OzonAction are jointly raising the awareness of the importanc

27 May 2020, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – The National Ozone Authority (NOA) of Mongolia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism is continuing work without let-up amid the COVID-19 pandemic by building the capacity of the country's refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) technicians for servicing room air conditioners that use alternative gases, in line with the objectives of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

With challenges to organize face-to-face events and the postponement of the 6th high ambient temperature (HAT) symposium, planned last March, UNEP OzonAction in cooperation with UNIDO and ASHRAE designed an international Webinar about Alternative Refrigerants for High-Ambient Temperature Countries” convening all HAT countries to share the knowledge acquired from all relevant HAT assessment and research projects with emphasis on the research projects conducted by UNEP/UNIDO in relation to the technical feasibility of alternatives and building risk assessment models to ensure safe deployment

The following four stories from Indonesia are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."

As part of their cooperation to support the needs of different stakeholders in developing countries to fulfil their commitments under the Montreal Protocol, the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) and UNEP OzonAction today released the French and Spanish versions of their popular Technology Briefs on the Cold Chain.

In 2019, ASHRAE and UNEP OzonAction introduced for the first time an international award program titled “Lower-GWP Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Innovation Award” The award program intends to promote innovative design, research and practice by recognizing people who have developed or implemented innovative technological concepts applied in developing countries to minimize global warming potential (GWP) through refrigeration and air-conditioning management.

“Quickly, efficiently and accurately convert between values in metric tonnes, ODP tonnes and CO2-equivalent tonnes”

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.