LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF UNEP OZONACTION TO NATIONAL OZONE OFFICERS FOR WORLD OZONE DAY
Dear National Ozone Officers,
I sincerely hope that you, your families and colleagues are all well and keeping healthy during this challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we all know, the past year has been extremely difficult for the entire world, including the tragic loss of life, the economic impacts, and the social disruptions that have affected so many countries. People have struggled on both the professional and personal levels to cope with this difficult and complex situation. However, despite these challenges, the entire Montreal Protocol community has shown remarkable resilience and strength over the past year – the treaty has continued to do its work, countries are meeting their commitments, and the ozone layer and climate system are being protected by your actions. I wish to commend you and your team in the National Ozone Unit for your dedication, hard work and steadfast commitment to continue meeting your country's compliance commitments, reporting data, and implementing project activities during this period. This "continuity in the face of adversity" makes the Montreal Protocol a shining example that governments and dedicated individuals can continue to protect the global environment even during a pandemic.
We have an excellent opportunity to share this positive example very soon: World Ozone Day (WOD), 16 September. This year’s theme is the Montreal Protocol - Keeping us, our food, and vaccines cool! The refrigeration cold chain is absolutely essential for all countries and it has a direct relationship on reducing food loss and food waste, protecting public health, and supporting the economy. The Montreal Protocol is closely linked to this critical sector and WOD is an excellent time to shine the spotlight on this often overlooked sector.
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To assist countries in organizing activities for World Ozone Day on 16 September 2021, OzonAction is pleased to share a number of tools that can be used for this event:
1. Cold Chain Technology Brief: Vaccines: This brief was developed by OzonAction and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR). The vaccine technology brief intends to offer the basic knowledge needed for policy-makers, operators, and vaccine programe officials about technological, market, and environmental aspects of the vaccine cold chain sector. It offers an overview of vaccine temperature control, types of different vaccine cold chain applications, good operational practices of vaccine cold chain applications, types of refrigerants being used, and challenges to this sector. It is available in English, French, and Spanish. (The brief will be officially posted during the week of 16 Sept). This is in addition to the cold chain technology briefs set, produced earlier by IIR and OzonAction, and covers all other cold chain sub-sectors i.e. Production & Processing, Cold Storage, Transport Refrigeration, Commercial & Domestic, and Fishing Vessels.
2. Cold Chain Database Methodology: This database was developed by OzonAction in cooperation with the Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) to assist developing countries to thoroughly map the use of refrigerants and related technologies within the many different cold-chain sub-sectors. The Database also offers the unique opportunity to connect Montreal Protocol business with the relevant sustainable development goals related to food security, sustainable consumption, and energy saving. Thanks to the genuine support from six pilot countries namely Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Maldives, North Macedonia, Paraguay, and Senegal, the database methodology and questionnaires are now validated and ready to be used by any interested countries.
3. The OzonAction Knowledge Maps tool was developed to provide you and different UNEP’s partners, with a simple tool to help them access data and information about relevant stakeholders, who are mainly involved in the implementation of programmes and projects under the MP.
4. Regional awareness activities: The Asia-Pacific networks will launch an Ozone2Climate Art Contest on WOD 2021. There will be three categories photography, drawing, and graphic design.
5. Labelling Refrigerant Cylinders: Why Set Up National Legislation on Labelling Refrigerant Cylinders? This technical brief will encourage you to establish or amend national legislation requiring the mandatory labelling of refrigerant cylinders.
6. The Gas Card tool is a web-based visualization tool of refrigerant gases, to provide engineers, workers, and technicians with easily accessible information on substances/gases that they are working with or handling in the workplace on visual printable cards.
7. The Informal Prior-Informed Consent (iPIC) Mechanism - 2021 Annual Report is now available in English, French, Russian and Spanish.
8. Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry - Personal Experiences and Achievements: Refrigeration and air-conditioning are crucial for our health, nutrition, comfort, and well-being. From prevention of food wastage to preservation of vaccines, from air-conditioning in hospitals to our homes, we increasingly rely on the advances that refrigeration has brought us. However, all around the world, the sector has always been a largely male-dominated work environment. The fast-growing sector can offer a wide variety of interesting and fulfilling careers for women as well as men. UNEP OzonAction, in cooperation with UN Women, has compiled a booklet to raise awareness of the opportunities available to women and to highlight the particular experiences and examples of women working in the sector, and recognise their successes. Being aware of these experiences and the opportunities available can encourage and inspire other women to consider similar careers and support girls to seek to follow a career path in this fast-growing and important sector. This inspirational document is suitable for wide outreach to the general public, to schools, training centers, and those preparing for future careers.
