Luanda - Angola plans to eliminate the import and consumption of refrigeration gases belonging to hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030, the Environment Ministry's focal point for the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol, Ivone Pascoal, said Saturday in Luanda.
Hydro chlorofluorocarbons are chemical substances used mainly by the refrigeration and automotive industries in the production of foams, in agriculture and laboratories, as well as being the main culprits in the degradation of the ozone layer and global warming.
Speaking to ANGOP on the celebration of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer marked on September 17, Pascoal said in 2012 the country began implementing the schedule for phasing out the elimination of these harmful gases to the ozone layer that cause global warming, within the framework of the Montreal Protocol.
According to the official, the timetable is expected to be completed by 2025 giving the maintenance sector a margin of use until 2030.
She pointed out that the program is 75 percent implemented, with gas imports ranging from 250 to 150 metric tons per year, representing a significant reduction before the programme is implemented and the protocol complied.
This result was achieved thanks to awareness-raising activities on good refrigeration practices, setting up laboratories for new air-conditioning refrigeration techniques, implementing regulations on the export, re-export and import of ozone-depleting substances and equipment, among others.
Angola has ratified the Kigali Amendment to start materialising its implementation schedule, which expects to reduce the volume of imports of these substances by 2050.
The Kigali Amendment is an agreement that provides for a staggered reduction in the consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 2050.
If this agreement is complied with, the world expects a decrease of up to 0.4 degrees Celsius in global temperature.
The Angolan official recalled that by 2010 the country had successfully implemented a phased ban on the import of chlorofluorocarbons, which are a group of gases with a high potential for destroying the ozone layer.
Pascoal reiterated Angola's commitment through the Ministry of the Environment to adopt and implement national programmeTTs for the phased reduction of gases used in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector that are the cause of ozone depletion.
The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was established after a number of countries signed the Montreal Protocol in 1987, whose main objective is to raise awareness about the importance of this layer and ways to prevent its destruction.
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