Cebu, 30 July 2019 — What policies and programmes have worked well for our countries under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer? What needs strengthening? How do we prepare ourselves to meet new commitments? Eleven Southeast Asia countries gathered in Cebu, Philippines to discuss such questions and chart a path forward for the implementation of this multilateral environmental agreement, which is currently phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and which will soon phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the recently-adopted Kigali Amendment. The Thematic Workshop of the South East Asia Network of National Ozone Officers on Compliance with the Montreal Protocol Post-Kigali was jointly organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Compliance Assistance Program (CAP) and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Government of the Philippines from 30 July to 2 August 2019. Thirty-eight participants attended, including National Ozone Officers from 11 countries and resource persons from the Ozone Secretariat, the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, other Implementing Agencies and industries.
Like other developing countries that operate under Article 5 of the Protocol, the Southeast Asian countries only have six months left to prepare for the next obligation under the Montreal Protocol to reduce their consumption of HCFCs to 35% compared with their baselines. The countries analyzed their existing policy and technical measures for reducing demand and supply of these chemicals, which are commonly used as refrigerant gases for air conditioning and refrigerators, and identified further actions needed to ensure compliance with that target. They further considered how to strengthen their national monitoring, verification, reporting and enforcement (MRVE) systems with the aim to sustain phase-out achievements for controlled substances. The participants also exchanged good practices and ideas for the establishment of HFC quota and licensing system and HFC data collection and reporting, most critical needs to ensure accurate reporting of HFC baseline data during 2020-2022, as part of their approved Enabling Activities projects under the Multilateral Fund.
Mr. Metodio U. Turbella, Director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Philippines, welcomed the participants and stated that, “The Government of the Philippines commits to compliance with obligations under the Montreal Protocol not only sustaining achievements for substances that have been phased out, but also future obligations of HCFC phase-out. Developing countries should work on the practical strategy and to engage private sector participation for the HFC phase-down strategy, while phasing-out HCFCs”.
During the four-day workshop, the participants shared their experiences and challenges in promoting sustainable development of the cooling sector, building the infrastructure of the refrigeration servicing sector for the HCFC phaseout and safe adoption of flammable refrigerants, halon bank management, as well as quarantine and pre-shipment uses of the ozone-depleting fumigant methyl bromide. A site visit to a regional training center of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) was undertaken to gain experience from the Philippines on the integration of good servicing practices into the national certification system for refrigeration and air-conditioning servicing technicians, which could be one of the approaches to sustain compliance with the Montreal Protocol obligations.
Mr. Shaofeng Hu, OzonAction's Montreal Protocol Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific, appreciated the active engagement of the discussion, and noted that, “this workshop provided a good forum for countries to take stock of the Montreal Protocol achievements to get them better prepared to address emerging challenges such as how to sustain phaseout, and balance the needs for compliance of the HCFC phaseout and the long term targets under the Kigali Amendment.”.
The Thematic Workshop, which was supported by the Multilateral Fund, is part of the regional OzonAction CAP work plan for 2019 to support countries in meeting and sustaining their Montreal Protocol commitments.
For more information, please contact
Mr. Shaofeng Hu
Montreal Protocol Regional Coordinator
UNEP Asia and Pacific Office
E-mail: hus@un.org
