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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this multifaceted challenge, most of humanity is now experiencing the “Great Lockdown” where in-person gatherings have been replaced by social distancing to protect public health.

29 April 2020, Dili - Timor-Leste has recently raised the bar in terms of its outreach of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer through a series of successful outreach events organized in March 2020 under its new ‘Ozone Week’ banner.

The latest version of the factsheet providing up to date information on refrigerant designations and safety classifications is now available (April 2020 update).

The UNEP OzonAction WhatGas? application has been updated and improved.

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

Collaboration between China and Thailand using OzonAction’s informal Prior Informed Consent (iPIC) system has resulted in the prevention of a huge consignment of ozone-depleting and climate damaging hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Those chemicals, which are primarily used as refrigerants for air conditioners and fridges, are controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and are being phased out by all countries according to a specific timeline.

Paris, 7 April 2020 — World Refrigeration Day (WRD) is an international commemorative day that raises awareness about the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry and its contribution to modern life, as well as its connection to key societal objectives including mitigating climate change, protecting the ozone layer, and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Inaugurated in 2019, the initiative is well recognized and supported by leading industry associations and organizations around the globe, as well as governments and non-governmental organisations.

Fill out the 2020 online nomination form here. Download the 2020 Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards Information note.

Dear National Ozone Officers, On behalf of UN Environment (UNEP) OzonAction, I would like to express our deep appreciation to your country for its continued high-level commitment to implement the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, including during very challenging times such as what the world is now facing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The raid is not like other police raids. No flashing lights and no breaking down doors. There is no cache of weapons to seize. But on a planetary scale, what the police came to confiscate is no less dangerous. On the outskirts of Vientiane, Lao Environment Police enter a nondescript shop selling refrigerators, rice cookers and other appliances, flanked by officials from the Pollution Control Department and the Department of Domestic Trade. They have been tipped off that the shop is likely selling smuggled refrigerants.

The following stories from France, The Gambia, Georgia and Germany are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."

The Informal Prior informed consent system (iPIC) has been completely overhauled and updated OzonAction is delighted to release the latest updated and streamlined version of the online Informal Prior-Informed Consent (iPIC) platform. Responding to comments and feedback we have changed how the system looks and operates.

The following stories from Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Fiji are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."

This meeting has been organized by the Regional Montreal Protocol Network for Europe and Central Asia (ECA network) of UNEP Law Division's OzonAction Programme in cooperation with Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia, the national HVAC&R Association SMEITS / KGH and UNDP Serbia.

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

6 January 2020, Muscat  ̶  Refrigeration and air conditioning is at the heart of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Thimphu, December 2019  ̶   Under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the technicians who work in refrigeration and air conditioning play a major role because they handle the refrigerant gases that are controlled under that international environmental agreement.

30 December 2019, Muscat  ̶  Illegal trade in substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), undermines national commitments under this international environmental agreement. It also violates national laws, deprives the government of rightful income, and supports other forms of illegal activity. Customs officials worldwide, including those in Oman, are highly committed to protecting their borders by fighting this illicit chemical trade.

Bangkok, 24 December 2019   ̶  How well Ozone Officers and their teams do in their work – developing projects, managing national strategies, reporting data, developing and enforcing policies, working with national and international institutions – directly or indirectly affects the status of their country's compliance with its obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

In late November and mid-December 2019, both the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in cooperation with UNEP OzonAction and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigerating Institute (AHRI), advanced the Refrigerant Driving License (RDL) program by conducting technicians training sessions under the pilot stage of the RDL program targeting 31 local technicians who were trained and tested against RDL minimum requirements of competencies and skills.

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

Torugart, Kyrgyzstan, 11 December 2019  The first X-ray equipment for trucks has been installed at the Torugart checkpoint in the Naryn province of Kyrgyzstan which is connected through the Torugart mountain pass with the Xinjiang region of China. It is one of the highest mountain roads of the country at an elevation of 3,752 meter above sea level and located in the Tian Shan mountains. The trade volume between China and Kyrgyzstan is estimated to be at least USD 2 billion per year.