News

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 9 June 2023 – Twenty-four National Ozone Officers (NOOs) and National Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC) experts from 13 African Francophone countries - Benin, Burundi, Chad, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, and Togo, (3 female, 21 male)  participated in a thematic workshop on Kigali Implementation Plans (KIP) preparation held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire from 22 to 23 May 2023.

Malé, Republic of the Maldives, 21–25 May 2023 – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) team in Asia and the Pacific organized a Network Meeting of South Asia (SA) National Ozone Officers (NOOs) and the Twinning National Ozone and Customs Officers Workshop on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) / Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) Trade Control and Reporting. The Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology of the Maldives, H.E, Aminath Shauna, warmedy welcomed the participants to both meetings.

Amman, Jordan, 23 May 2023 ‒ The UNEP OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP), West Asia Office, organized a training workshop for new National Ozone Officers (NOOs) and staff of the National Ozone Units (NOUs) in Iraq and Jordan as part of the Regional Network service it provides to Article 5 countries in the West Asia region, and in its role as an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal P

Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, 17 May 2023 ‒  The UNEP OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP), West Asia Regional Office, jointly organized with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a two-day stakeholders’ consultation workshop to discuss the implementation of the preparatory project for Stage II of the HCFC Phase-Out Management Plan (HPMP) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as approved by the Executive Committee (ExCom) at its 86th Meeting.

Port Vila, Vanuatu, 15 May 2023 ‒ UNEP’s OzonAction Asia-Pacific Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) team in collaboration with the Government of Vanuatu organized a Network Meeting of the Pacific Island Countries (PIC) National Ozone Officers (NOOs) in Port Vila, Vanuatu (8-9 and 12 May 2023) to facilitate the Network countries to share experiences/good practices in var

Paris, France, 11 May 2023 — Today, the International Network for Women in Cooling (INWIC) officially launched its web service, available at http://www.inwic.org.

Rwanda, 8 May 2023 – The Regional Meeting for National Ozone Officers of the English-Speaking African Network was held in Kigali, Rwanda from 8 to 10 May 2023.  The meeting was organized by the UNEP OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme team in Africa to facilitate the sharing of experiences and good practices in various areas under the Montreal Protocol among countries of the African network.

Panamá, 28 de abril de 2023 - La esperanza de un planeta limpio y la crisis climática cruzan las más de 300 obras de América Latina y el Caribe que participaron en el concurso de arte “El Planeta es tu Lienzo”, organizado por el Programa Acción Ozono de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), y que se desarrolló entre octubre de 2022 y marzo de 2023.

UNEP OzonAction is pleased to exhibit on a weekly basis the 36 winning pieces of art from the 2022 “Asia Pacific Regional Ozone2Climate Art Contest”.  The 1st and 2nd place winners in the Adult graphic design category are depicted below. 

Panama City, Panama, 30 March 2023 — The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) team in Latin America and the Caribbe

Panama City, Panama, 30 March 2023 — The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme, Latin America and the Caribbean, in cooperation with the Government of Panama hosted the English-Speaking Caribbean and Haiti Thematic Network Meeting for National Ozone Officers (NOOs), in Panama City, from 23 - 24 March 2023.  This was the first in-person meeting held following a 2-year series of virtual meetings owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

El objetivo de la reunión, la primera presencial desde la pandemia, fue abordar los desafíos de la Enmienda de Kigali y cuáles serán las actividades prioritarias de cara a su implementación.

UNEP OzonAction is pleased to exhibit on a weekly basis the 36 winning pieces of art from the 2022 “Asia Pacific Regional Ozone2Climate Art Contest”.  The 3rd place winners in the Adult drawing category are depicted below. 

Halong City, Viet Nam, 22 March 2023 ‒ UNEP’s OzonAction Asia-Pacific Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) team in collaboration with the Government of Vietnam organized a Network Meeting of Southeast Asia (SEA) National Ozone Officers (NOOs) in Halong City from 13-15 March 2023 to facilitate the Network countries to share experiences/good practices in various areas under the Montreal Protocol.

30 March 2023, Panama City, Panama — National Ozone Officers from Latin America and the Caribbean, met in Panama City from 16-27 March 2023 to discuss and address the Kigali Amendment challenges including Montreal Protocol related activities.  The series of meetings (1. Joint Network Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin American, 2. the Caribbean Thematic Meetings and 3.

Riyadh, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 24 March 2023 — UNEP OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP), West Asia, in consultation and close cooperation with the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the GCC Standardization Organization (GCCSO), organized a two-day thematic technical meeting on 12-13 March 2023 at the headquarters of the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh, KSA.

27 January 2023, Virtual ‒ National Ozone Officers (NOOs) of South Asia (SA), Southeast Asia (SEA) and Pacific Island Countries (PICs) Networks jointly discussed the 2023 Communications and Public Outreach Strategy through the two virtual consultation meetings on 18 and 26 January 2023. A total of 63 participants (39 females and 24 males) engaged in the virtual meetings.

Cairo, Egypt, 19 January 2023 ‒ There is a growing need for females to join the ranks of air- conditioning and refrigeration (RAC) technicians. A training workshop recently organized by the Government of Egypt and the United Nations OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) better prepared women for advancement in the field and revealed the unique challenges women face.

Nominations of Customs and Enforcement Officers from Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Spain, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, as well as the European Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), have been validated

14 December 2022, Paris. France -- The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has just announced the successful outcome of Operation DEMETER VIII, a coordinated enforcement action that aims at intercepting illegal shipments of hazardous waste, especially plastic waste, as well as ozone depleting substances (ODS) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

Colleen Keyworth was appointed President for the year 2023 with Dr. Ina Colombo-Youla as President-Elect to serve the following year.   Paris, 30 November 2022 – Formed this year, the International Network for Women in Cooling (INWIC) has appointed its first President and President-Elect. Colleen Keyworth was voted in by the board as President to serve as of 1 January 2023 with Dr. Ina Colombo-Youla as President-Elect to succeed her in 2024.

Coral Coast, Fiji, 3 November 2022 – National Ozone Officers from the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) met in Fiji for their Network Meeting from 10-12 October 2022 to prepare countries to meet the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) freeze from 1 January 2024, while sustaining hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) phase-out.  Back-to-back with this meeting was the training workshop of new National Ozone Unit (NOU) staff held from 13 - 14 October 2022. The purpose of this workshop was to strengthen the capacity of NOU staff to implement the Montreal Protocol.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, 6-7 October 2022 ‒ Twenty-one new National Ozone Unit (NOU) staff (female 11, male 10) in the South-Asia (SA) and Southeast Asia (SEA) Networks met on 6-7 October 2022 in Chiang Mai, Thailand to learn how to connect their day-to-day activities with the legacy of the Montreal Protocol.