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Africa Steps Up Efforts to Address the Challenge of HCFCs Phase Out
Ozone specialists from 46 African countries gather in Harare to discuss national plans
for meeting the upcoming targets for HCFCs and Methyl bromide
Harare/Nairobi, 25 October 2011- About 70 participants including experts from African governments,
international organizations and the media are meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe to discuss how best to scale up
efforts for meeting the 2013 Freeze target for HCFCs.
The 15th Joint meeting of the Ozone Depleting Substances Officers Network in Africa (ODSONET/AF) is
discussing national plans and associated technical issues for
meeting the targets for the controlled Hydro fluorocarbons
(HCFCs) and methyl bromide.
The meeting is also meant to assess the compliance status of
African countries with respect to recent obligations, notably the
phase out of CFCs by 1st January 2010.
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management
of Zimbabwe, Hon. Francis Nhema in his opening remarks
said: “As developing countries from Africa, we are faced with
similar challenges that cut across national borders and that
cannot be solved in isolation. This meeting will provide ample
Group picture featuring Minister Nhema with
time for mapping out strategies for the phase out of the Ozone Officers and Journalists
remaining ODS still in use in our continent and identifying the
resources that are needed to achieve complete phase out. We want technology that works in our region
without creating other environmental problems.”
The Joint meeting is part of an on-going forum supported by the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund and
managed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assist National Ozone Units to
efficiently manage their national programmes for compliance with this multilateral environmental agreement.
James Curlin, the Interim Head of UNEP OzonAction Branch said: “For Africa as a continent, its successful
compliance with the 2010 CFC phase out targets is nothing short of phenomenal. African Governments are to
be congratulated on the highly successful efforts to comply with this time-targeted international
environmental commitment.”
“It shows that Africa can successfully meet and overcome serious challenges, and it holds out the promise that
Africa can do more in the future, with the same dedication, energy and resourcefulness”, he added.
The meeting is taking place in a context of mounting concerns about the steep rise in HCFC consumption in
many countries, while the compliance targets deadlines are nearing. There is a rapid increase of HCFC-based
equipment imports and growing HCFC consumption in the servicing sector.
To this end, all countries are expected to review their ODS policies to ensure that they are comprehensive, up
to date, and that they have the objective to reduce this growth.
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The Montreal Protocol requires countries to freeze consumption of HCFCs by 1 January 2013 and to reduce it
by 10% by 1 January 2015. During the meeting, particular attention is therefore being paid to different
national licensing systems since they are initial means for most developing countries referred to as Article 5
countries under the Montreal Protocol, to comply with the 2013 freeze of HCFCs.
In this regard, the Harare meeting will present a new policy tool for the region – the informal Prior Informed
Consent mechanism– that will help strengthen the enforcement of countries’ systems for licensing imports of
ODS.
This meeting is the last meeting for African Countries before the Joint Conference of Parties to the Vienna
Convention and Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Bali, Indonesia next month. The meeting
provides an important platform to deliberate on priority issues that affect the continent, such as destruction of
ODS banks, role of the Montreal Protocol in mitigating climate change, financial matters and technology
transfer.
Note to editors:
Winners of the 2011 Ozone Africa Media Award will be selected and announced at the 15 th Joint meeting of
the Ozone Depleting Substances Officers Network in Africa. The competition was lunched on 27 June 2011
in Bamako, Mali.
The Ozone Africa Media Award, which was established in 2010, encourages highest standards of excellence
in environmental and scientific reporting, focusing on how ozone issues are addressed in Africa.
Journalists from 10 countries in the region, members of the African Network of Environment Journalists
(ANEJ) are participating in the meeting.
ANEJ was established in November 2002 at the margin of a OzonAction meeting in Nairobi and has since
consolidated its partnership with the UNEP Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) in Africa to mobilize
policy and political support as well as public engagement for a comprehensive response to the ODS in Africa.
For more information, please contact: Jeremy Bazye, Senior Regional Coordinator - OzonAction
Compliance Assistance Programme on Tel: +254 20 7624281; E-mail: [email protected]
Or Angele Luh, Information Officer, UNEP Regional Office for Africa, Tel: +254 20 7624292; Mobile: +254
(0) 731 666 140; Email: [email protected]
UNEP News Release 2011
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