Tbilisi meeting on implementation of HCFC phase-out management plans and HFC phase-down initiatives under the Kigali Amendment
National Ozone Officers, Climate Focal points and Refrigeration Experts from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova (Republic of), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, representatives of the Ozone Secretariat and the implementing agencies UN Environment and UNIDO participate in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) thematic meeting on HCFC phase-out management plans and HFCs phase-down initiatives in Tbilisi from 24-26 October 2017.
The meeting is hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia and organized by UN Environment OzonAction in collaboration with UNDP Georgia. Mr. Solomon Pavliashvili, First Deputy Minister, and Mr. Niels Scott, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative opened the meeting. Ms. Sophia Mylona, Senior Environmental Affairs Officer of the Ozone Secretariat, and Mr. Halvart Koeppen, Coordinator of UN Environment’s Regional Ozone Network for Europe and Central Asia welcomed the participants on behalf of their respective organizations.
Mr. Solomon Pavliashvili highlighted Georgia’s achievements in phasing out ozone-depleting substances over the past decades and reconfirmed Georgia’s commitment to fully implement the Montreal Protocol provisions. Mr. Niels Scott emphasized that countries of the region don’t only have a common past but also have a common future and offered UNDP’s support to implement the sustainable development goals in Georgia. Ms. Mylona encouraged countries to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol as soon as possible and to actively participate in the discussions at the Meeting of the Parties. Mr. Halvart Koeppen stated that the cooperation between Montreal Protocol focal points and experts on refrigeration, climate change, energy-efficiency and safety standards will become more and more crucial in the context of the Kigali Amendment… and that one of the objectives of the meeting is to explore opportunities for joint action and synergies.
The meeting takes place in the context of the Kigali Amendment which has been agreed during the 28th Meeting of the Parties in Rwanda on 15 October 2016. It aims to phase-down high global warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), thus transforming the Montreal Protocol into a powerful treaty for climate protection. It is expected to significantly contribute to the objectives of the Paris Agreement e.g. limiting global warming to 2 degrees by 2100.
The main objective of the thematic meeting, amongst others, is to share experiences and information between the Montreal Protocol and Climate Change focal points of the participating countries to assist them to implement their HPMPs and to get prepared for the HFC phase-down under the Kigali Amendment.
The meeting is organized as part of the Regional Network service that OzonAction’s Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) provides to Article 5 (developing) countries as part of its role as an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.