26.05.2015 - 28.05.2015 - Annual Meeting of the Regional Ozone Network for Europe & Central Asia, Yerevan, Armenia
The Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia and UNEP’s OzonAction Programme in cooperation with UNDP Armenia have jointly organized the annual meeting of the Regional Ozone Network for Europe & Central Asia (ECA Network) in Yerevan, Armenia, 26-28 May 2015.
The meeting was part of the agreed work programme of the ECA network under the Multilateral Fund for Implementation of the Montreal Protocol which is supporting developing countries to comply with the Montreal Protocol provisions. It has also been attended by representatives of the countries with economies in transition (CEIT countries) which are supported by the Global Environment Fund with UNDP and UNIDO as the implementing agencies.
It took place in the context of the accelerated phase-out of HCFCs which requires developing countries to achieve a 10 % reduction of their HCFC consumption and developed countries a 90 % reduction in 2015 compared with their respective baselines.
The main objectives of the meeting included:
- Enabling National Ozone Units to efficiently implement their national HCFC phase-out management plans (HPMPs) and to meet the phase-out targets of the Montreal Protocol;
- Monitoring of MP implementation in terms of compliance, consumption trends, data reporting, import/export licensing and quota systems, etc. This includes also the quarantine and pre-shipment (QPS) use of methyl bromide, which is increasing in a few countries;
- Strengthening national refrigeration & air conditioning (RAC) associations as key actors in implementing HPMPs and to help overcome barriers to the introduction of ozone- and climate-friendly, energy efficient technologies;
- Promoting training & certification (including e-learning) for RAC technicians and companies and in particular on the safe use of alternatives which might use flammable, toxic or high-pressure refrigerants;
- Promoting access to technology information, technology transfer & innovation to overcome barriers to the wide-spread market deployment of alternative technologies;
- Fostering the cooperation with the private sector including representatives of industry and national RAC associations, and with international stakeholders;
- Reviewing legislation and policy measures and the adoption of performance and safety standards applicable to the RAC sector;
- Encouraging enforcement related initiatives, such as the iPIC initiative, analysis of differences in reported trade data, the ECA Ozone Protection Award for Customs & Enforcement officers.
The event was attended by ozone officers, managers of national RAC associations/ RAC experts from 11 ECA network countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia FYR, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Turkmenistan) as well as 7 self-funded CEIT countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Tajikikstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, representatives of the Ozone Secretariat, Multilateral Fund Secretariat, Implementing Agencies (UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank), bilateral partners (Croatia, Czech Republic, European Union, Germany, Poland, Romania), regional and international partner organisations (IIR, AREA, ASHRAE, REHVA, Centro Studi Galileo, EIA, etc.), private sector companies, academia as well as technical and policy experts (TEAP, TOC).
Source http://www.unep.org/