March 28, 2024

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PHOTOS&VIDEO: Rwanda celebrates Ozone Day & Two years of Kigali Amendment

Rwanda celebrates the World Ozone Day on 14th September 2018, in a colorful event which brought together various officials including Coletha Ruhamya, the Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and the Vice Mayor of the City of Kigali.

The celebration took place at Kigali Car Free Zone alongside the Exhibition of alternatives to ozone layer depleting substances and technologies that promote energy efficiency.

Exhibited materials include cooling natural gases (Hydrocarbons), Cooking gas, and electronic refrigerant among many others.

Today 14/09, Rwanda celebrates Wold Ozone Day because the international celebration day, 16/09 falls on Sunday, REMA said.

The event was also an opportunity to celebrate the two years of Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol adopted in October 2016 in Kigali.

In order to follow and facilitate the HFC phase-down schedules contained in the Kigali Amendment, the Parties, including  both  developed  and  developing  countries,  will  have  to  implement  certain  measures.

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are ozone depleting substances (ODS) controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Both production and consumption of HCFCs (defined as production + imports – exports) are to be phased out by 1 January 2020 in developed countries and by 1 January 2030 in developing countries following the specified reduction schedules.

Additionally, 0.5 % and 2.5 % of base years consumption is allowed for servicing the refrigeration and air conditioning equipment existing at the phase-out date in developed and developing countries, respectively, until 31 December 2030 and 31 December 2040.

Although HCFCs have their ozone depletion potentials (ODPs) in the range of 0.01-0.52, i.e. very low as compared to ODPs of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which were replaced by HCFCs, their overall effect on ozone layer depletion is quite high because of the large quantities which are still consumed globally.

Based on Article 7 data reported to the Ozone Secretariat, an estimated 26,000 ODP tons of HCFCs were consumed in 2015 in 156 countries out of 167 countries that supplied data, which corresponds to approximately 433,000 metric tons, (about 40% less than the amount consumed in 2010).

The reason for such a sharp decline in the global HCFC consumption over the last 5 years is that, in spite of the long time remaining until the 100% phase out deadline, many countries decided to accelerate the process of reducing HCFC consumption significantly and some (like e.g. European Union Member States, Norway or Switzerland) have already completed the HCFC phase-out process.

Speaking at the Event, the Director General of REMA Colletha Ruhamya said “The thing that we should really think about is how we can use technological innovations to mitigate gases emissions while contributing to energy efficiency. The other thing is financial needs to carry out those projects because it requires a huge capital.”

It should be noted that such great progress in the phase-out of HCFC global consumption could not be possible without financial support provided to developing countries by the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund.

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