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.
Participating NOOs (7 men, 8 women) were from The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Also in attendance were representatives from the Ozone Secretariat, Multilateral Fund, Implementing Agencies, and Bilateral partners.
The meeting was designed to facilitate continued capacity building and further strengthen cooperation with NOOs and National Ozone Assistants (NOAs) within each National Ozone Unit (NOU) in the region. The meeting provided information to foster support towards achieving and sustaining the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) phase-out commitments under the Montreal Protocol and bolstering efforts aimed at the hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) phase-down under the Kigali Amendment. This could be achieved by encouraging leapfrogging to the adoption of low global warming potential (GWP), climate-friendly, and energy-efficient technologies. The meeting sought to assist the 14 network countries to maintain their 35% HCFC reduction target and prepare them to achieve future HFC reduction targets as per the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment.
Mr. Leslie Smith, the two-decade veteran National Ozone Officer for Grenada registered his support for the meeting commenting “The Caribbean Thematic Meeting is the perfect opportunity for dialogue, discussion, and sharing amongst National Ozone Officers. It is a forum where new and innovative ideas blossom, strategies are developed and capacities are enhanced.”
The meeting also provided countries a platform to share and discuss mechanisms to support ratification of the Kigali Amendment and develop Kigali Implementation Plans. Countries were provided information from the Multilateral Fund (MLF), Ozone Secretariats, Implementing Agencies, and Bilateral partners.
This meeting was part of UNEP OzonAction’s CAP Workplan under the MLF for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
For further information:
Donnalyn Charles
Montreal Protocol, Regional Coordinator, Caribbean
UNEP OzonAction, Latin America and the Caribbean
Email: donnalyn.charles[at]un.org
