World Ozone Day: FG Renews Commitment To Phase-out Ozone Depleting Substances

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate the 2023 International Day for the Preservation and Protection of the Ozone Layer, the federal government has reiterated its commitment to the total phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) in the country.

The minister of environment, Dr Ishaq Salako, who stated this yesterday at the World Ozone Day event in Abuja, said for over three decades, the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with partners had been implementing the Montreal protocol’s ODS phase-out programme in the country.

He said in line with the protocol’s ODS phase-out schedule, the country had achieved 100 percent phase-out of over 4000 metric tonnes of ODS, with high ozone depletion potentials namely; CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloide and methyl bromide in 2010.

He said the ministry was targeting complete phase-out of 344.88 ODP tonnes of HCFCs by January 1, 2040.

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“Currently and with financial and technical support from the multilateral fund of the Montreal Protocol in collaboration with Implementing agencies such as UNDP and UNIDO, we are implementing the protocol’s hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) phase out management plan project which commenced in 2011.

“HFCs are gases with low ozone depleting potentials used as cooling agents in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector and serve as transitional replacement for gases with higher ozone depleting potential.

“The objective of the HPMP project is to completely phase out 344.88 ODP tonnes of HCFCs by 1st January, 2040. The project’s modality of implementation is in stages. Under stage I, which was completed in 2018, the ministry, in collaboration with UNDP and UNIDO completed several activities in the foam, refrigeration and air conditioning sectors that enabled us to phase out 79.5 ODP tonnes and 10 ODP tonnes of HCFC-1416 & HCFC-22 consumptions, respectively, thereby meeting our compliance obligations under the protocol by achieving the 10 percent reduction of our CFC importation from the baseline in 2015,” he said.

Ishaq noted that the theme for this year’s World Ozone Day which is “Montreal Protocol: fixing the Ozone Layer and reducing Climate Change” was a reminder of the collective responsibility to continue building on the considerable ozone and climate benefits already achieved under the protocol through the phase-out of ODS.

In his remarks, the country representative and regional director, UNIDO regional office hub, Mr. Jean Bakole, said UNIDO worked with Nigeria in successfully achieving the ban on importation, production and phasing out of chloroflorocarbons, methylbromide and halons.

“In partnership with the country, we piloted the identification, aggregation and disposal of unwanted CFCs with a Nigerian owned company. We reviewed and updated the national regulation on ozone layer protection with the Nigerian Environmental Standards, Regulation and Enforcement Agency (NESREA).”