Prague/Cheb, Czech Republic, 23 September 2022 - As part of UNEP OzonAction’s Compliance Assistance Programme under the Montreal Protocol, European and Central Asian countries met in Prague / Cheb to learn from the Czech Republic’s Montreal Protocol experience and to share information on the preparation of HFC phase-down plans under the Kigali Amendment.
The first physical meeting of the Regional Montreal Protocol Network for Europe and Central Asia (ECA network) since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic was jointly organized by UNEP OzonAction, the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, and the Czech halon bank EAF protect s.r.o.
The first day of the meeting which took place at the Ministry of Environment in Prague, was opened by Mr. Kurt Dědič, Director of the Air Protection Department of the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic. The second and third days of the meeting took place at the Czech halon bank EAF protect s.r.o. in Cheb, and the participants were warmly welcomed by the Mayor of Cheb, Mr. Antonín Jalovec.
The participants included Montreal Protocol Officers of the ECA network countries and Uzbekistan, representatives of the Ozone Secretariat, the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, implementing agencies UNEP, UNDP and UNIDO, and the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. The meeting was supported by experts of the Czech Ministry of Environment, the Czech halon bank EAF protect s.r.o., Czech sector experts and company Kidde Deugra Brandschutzsysteme.
Overview of topics discussed
The introductory presentation on the impact of UV radiation on human health led participants to the report of the Ozone Secretariat on the status of compliance, reporting and ratification of the Kigali Amendment in the ECA region, and outcomes of the Implementation Committee and Open-Ended-Working Group meetings. Overall, countries in the ECA region comply with their Montreal Protocol obligations, and Kazakhstan complies with its plan of action to return to compliance.
The Fund Secretariat’s summary of decisions of the 89th and 90th meetings of the Executive Committee focused on the review of institutional strengthening projects, potential strategies, policy measures and activities for HFC phase-down plans, the implementation of the operational policy on gender mainstreaming and the development of cost guidelines for the phase-down of HFCs in Article 5 countries. The latter shall consider criteria for funding sound management of used and unwanted controlled substances, funding for HFC phase-down in the refrigeration servicing sector, and options for mobilizing financial resources for maintaining / enhancing energy efficiency when replacing HFCs with low-GWP alternatives, among others. Low-volume-HCFC-consuming (LVC) countries might include additional funding in their HPMP tranche submissions for introducing low or zero GWP alternatives and for maintaining energy efficiency in the refrigeration servicing sector.
For the first time the participants were introduced to the monitoring and evaluation work of the Multilateral Fund which includes the evaluation of demonstration projects for low-global-warming potential (GWP) alternatives to HCFCs, the preparation of terms of reference for evaluation of enabling activities for HFC phase-down, and the evaluation of UNEP OzonAction’s regional networks. The Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the Multilateral Fund conducted a series of bilateral interviews with the Montreal Protocol Officers and encouraged them to respond to the online survey.
Czech experts lavishly shared their Montreal Protocol experience delivering the presentations on ODS and F-gas legislation, training, assessment and certification, critical uses of ODS in military and aviation, F-gases application in fire protection, collection and disposal of ODS and F-gases, the system of recovery, recycling and reclaim of refrigerants, different types of fire extinguishers, ODS and F-gases in the Czech customs and the link to the “EU Single Window Environment for Customs", use of ODS and F-gases for mobile air-conditioning and building insulation, the role of the Czech RAC association, the market place for F-gas reuse, the role of the national environmental fund and the collection of statistical data on disposal.
National cooling plans and the cool-up programme were presented by UNDP followed by an overview of initiatives related to gender mainstreaming by UNEP OzonAction instigating the experience exchange among the countries on the lessons learned from KIP preparation and how gender mainstreaming could be integrated into that effort. The representative of the Fund Secretariat provided their expectation and guidance on KIP preparation.
Highlights included the visit of the EAF protect s.r.o. facility where pressure cylinders for fire protection are serviced and filled, and where controlled substances used for fire protection are recycled and reclaimed with main applications in military, aviation and rail transport. In the training facility, real fire protection systems used in tanks, airplanes and trains were demonstrated. Once a spark is detected, they react so fast, that fire and explosions are prevented, and people protected. Their operation was demonstrated in the courtyard of EAF protect s.r.o., showing a huge fire ball without suppression system, and no fire with an operating system based on HFC-236fa in place.
In a specially equipped room, it was demonstrated how the inert gas (mixture of nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide) was blown into the room extinguishing flames, while allowing people to continue breathing. Volunteers were allowed to stay in the room during the demonstration. The advantage of that system is that it protects individuals without damaging the equipment.
All the presentations and background documents were included in the meeting USB and distributed to the participants on the last meeting day. They are also available from OzonAction meeting portal.
Needs and priorities of the ECA network countries
The results of the ECA survey on needs and priorities were presented at the meeting. The majority of the member countries preferred the two-hour online meetings hold four times per year, and three-day physical network meetings hold biennially involving a wide range of stakeholders with English-Russian interpretation. They supported holding the physical meeting of Montreal Protocol Officers and RAC experts in parallel to the 10th IIR International Conference on CO2 and Ammonia Refrigeration Technologies in Ohrid, North Macedonia, on 27-29 April 2023. Some countries requested country-to-country assistance and small-scale meetings to address issues of joint concern.
Interactive sessions and wishes for the future
The meeting agenda included several interactive sessions including short “messages of wisdom” by the secretariats, a “gender on the agenda” quiz to raise awareness on the importance of gender mainstreaming and a “wishes for the future” session reflecting on the current state of the network / region. Based on inputs by the participants, a new ECA poster has been created.
Meeting evaluation
The overall evaluation of the meeting is excellent (82%) and good (17%) based on the results of the evaluation questionnaire completed by the meeting participants.
Meeting documents and presentations
Meeting documents and presentations are available on the OzonAction meeting portal
Contacts
UNEP OzonAction : halvart.koppen@un.org
Czech Ministry of Environment: Jana.Masickova@mzp.cz
EAF protect s.r.o.: Hrda@eaf.cz
