Tue, Apr 9, 2013 - A
move to such alternatives is in line with
the objectives of the Climate and Clean
Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate
Pollutants (CCAC), of which UNEP is one
of the founding partners.
Shanghai/Bangkok, 9
April 2013 - A roadshow organized by UNEP
OzonAction and the China Refrigeration and
Air-Conditioning Association (CRAA) has
got underway in Shanghai to highlight safe
alternatives to hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs), which damage the stratospheric
ozone layer, in refrigeration and air conditioning
(RAC) technologies.
Many ozone and climate-friendly
alternative technologies to HCFC-based equipment
with improved energy efficiency are already
commercially available and used in many
RAC applications worldwide.
HCFCs are cooling chemicals
that have been found to be destructive to
the stratospheric ozone layer and are being
phased out gradually under the universally
ratified international agreement, the Montreal
Protocol.
Countries are now developing
policies and regulations to limit the consumption
of HCFCs and industry is compelled to shift
to alternatives. However, some HCFC alternatives
being adopted are powerful greenhouse gases-such
as high-GWP hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
According to a recent
assessment by UNEP, the global consumption
of HFCs has doubled in the last decade.
It is growing at 10 per cent a year and
could account for up to 20 per cent of greenhouse
gas emissions in 2050-equal to the current
emissions from the global transport sector.
The Ozone2Climate Technology
Roadshow is running from 8 to 10 April at
the Shanghai New International Expo Centre
on the margins of the 24th International
Exhibition for Refrigeration, Air-conditioning,
Heating and Ventilation, Frozen Food Processing,
Packaging and Storage (CRH 2013), one of
the world's biggest exhibitions of its kind.
On 9 April, an Industry
Roundtable is taking place, in which both
industry pioneers and key government officers
will discuss promoting investment, research
and development in new environmentally friendly
technologies for the sector.
"The need for a
globally coordinated shift to environmentally
friendly alternatives is urgent," said
Dr. Young-Woo Park, Regional Director of
UNEP Asia Pacific. "We encourage industry
to leapfrog to greener and more sustainable
RAC technologies that will also improve
the energy efficiency of this equipment."
A move to such alternatives
is in line with the objectives of the Climate
and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived
Climate Pollutants (CCAC), of which UNEP
is one of the founding partners.
The cooperation of the
RAC industry of China and the whole Asia
Pacific region is indispensible in achieving
the goals of the Montreal Protocol and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
"Over 25 years
of rapid growth, China has developed into
the largest manufacturer and the second-largest
consumer in global refrigeration, air conditioning
and heating industry," said Mr. Zhang
Zhaohui, Secretary General of CRAA. "In
order to protect the ozone layer and mitigate
climate change, the industry is faced with
the challenge of conserving energy and rapidly
replacing HCFCs. We are very happy to join
hands with UNEP and other partners in promoting,
introducing and demonstrating the most advanced
and most environment-friendly new technology,"
"Currently, China's
RAC industry is making every effort to research
and develop alternative technologies to
replace HCFCs for the benefit of both the
environment and Chinese business and economy,"
said Mr. Xiao Xuezhi, Deputy Director General,
Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, Ministry
of Environmental Protection. "The roadshow
and roundtable are good forums for industry
to share experience and inspire each other."
The Shanghai exhibition
is the third Ozone2Climate Roadshow organized
by UNEP OzonAction and its partners. The
first was in Maldives in May 2011 and the
second was in Beijing in April 2012, which
was also co-organized with CRAA.
Notes to Editors
United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's
designated entity for addressing environmental
issues at the global and regional level.
Its mandate is to coordinate the development
of environmental policy consensus by keeping
the global environment under review and
bringing emerging issues to the attention
of governments and the international community
for action.
The Montreal Protocol
on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer
is an international treaty designed to protect
the ozone layer by phasing out the production
and consumption of a number of substances
believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
The treaty was opened for signature on September
16, 1987 and entered into force on January
1, 1989. Since then, it has undergone five
revisions, in 11000 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen),
1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999
(Beijing). Due to its widespread adoption
and implementation it has been hailed as
an example of exceptional international
cooperation.
The Multilateral Fund
for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol
is managed by an Executive Committee which
is responsible for overseeing the operation
of the Fund. The Committee comprises seven
members from developed and seven members
from developing countries. The 2013 Committee
membership includes India, Kuwait, Mali,
Nicaragua, Serbia (Vice-Chair), Uganda,
Uruguay (developing country members) and
Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Japan,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (Chair) and United States of America
(developed countries). Ms. Fiona Walters
(United Kingdom) serves as Chair and Ms.
Sonja Ruzin (Serbia) serves as Vice-Chair
of the Executive Committee for one year
beginning 1 January 2013.
The Climate and Clean
Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate
Pollutants (CCAC) is a voluntary partnership
of governments, intergovernmental organizations,
representatives of the private sector, the
environmental community, and other members
of civil society that have joined forces
to address the challenge of short lived
climate pollutants. It is the first global
effort to treat short-lived climate pollutants
- such as black carbon (or soot), methane
and many hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) - as
an urgent and collective challenge. CCAC
is catalyzing rapid reductions in these
harmful pollutants to protect human health
and the environment now and slow the rate
of climate change within the first half
of this century. Visit: http://unep.org/ccac.
+ More
UN Calls for Accelerated
Action with 1,000 Days to Go on Millennium
Development Goals
Thu, Apr 4, 2013 - People
around the world invited to join in boosting
momentum for most successful global anti-poverty
push in history
New York, 3 April -
The United Nations and its partners around
the world will observe the 1,000 days to
the end of 2015 - the target date for achieving
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- during the next week to inspire further
action.
"The MDGs are the most successful global
anti-poverty push in history," UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon said. "The Goals have helped
set global and national priorities, mobilize
action, and achieve remarkable results."
FURTHER RESOURCES
United Nations Millennium Development Goals
The eight time-bound MDGs address poverty
and hunger, education, gender equality,
child mortality, maternal health, combatting
AIDS, malaria and other diseases, environmental
sustainability and a global partnership
for development.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Executive Director, said: "The MDGs
have proven to be a powerful focus for international
efforts to eradicate poverty and catalyze
action towards sustainable development".
"In respect to
MDG 7 on environmental sustainability, there
has been considerable progress in respect
to the provision of water and the extension
of National Parks and other protected areas
on land and, to an extent, at sea,"
he added.
"But the broader
challenges of putting the environment and
its natural or nature-based assets at the
heart of sustainable development and the
lives and livelihoods of over seven billion
people remain a real work in progress. The
Rio+20 Summit of 2012 has laid out some
new and inspiring pathways for achieving
this, including the opportunities from a
transition towards a Green Economy,"
said Mr Steiner.
"The post 2015
development agenda affords a further opportunity
to deliver goals based on broader notions
of wealth-from the planet's freshwaters
to its forests, soils and atmosphere-and
the urgency to decouple economic growth
from pollution footprints and over-exploitation
of humanity's finite natural resources,"
he added.
Starting 5 April, the
actual milestone date, and running through
12 April, the UN will work with governments,
civil society and international partners
to mark "MDG Momentum: 1,000 Days of
Action" in a variety of ways.
In Madrid, Spain, the
Secretary-General and young people from
the Spanish and European Youth Councils
are observing the moment at a special event
on 4 April, joined by a number of heads
of UN agencies, funds and programmes who
are visiting for a senior-level UN meeting.
Since the MDGs were
adopted by all UN Member States in 2000,
governments, international organizations
and civil society groups around the world
have helped make tremendous progress to
improve people's lives. The world's extreme
poverty rate has been cut in half since
11000. A record number of children are in
primary school - with an equal number of
girls and boys for the first time. Maternal
and child mortality have dropped. The world
continues to fight killer diseases, such
as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Since
11000, two billion more people have gained
access to safe drinking water.
To build on this success
and accelerate action, the Secretary-General
called on the international community to:
increase targeted investments in health,
education, energy and sanitation; empower
women and girls; focus on the most vulnerable
people; keep up aid commitments; and re-energize
efforts from governments to grassroots groups
to make a difference.
"The MDGs have
proven that focused global development objectives
can make a profound difference," Mr.
Ban said. "Success in the next 1,000
days will not only improve the lives of
millions, it will add momentum as we plan
for beyond 2015 and the challenges of sustainable
development."
#MDG momentum
Social media will play
a major role in observing the milestone.
A global social media surge on Friday, 5
April - involving 1,000 consecutive minutes
of digital engagement - will promote #MDGmomentum
and the need to rally the world to step
up efforts to achieve the eight Goals as
2015 approaches.
People around the world
are invited to take part in the social media
surge between Friday, 5 April, 8:00 am EDT
and Saturday, 6 April, 1:00 am EDT.
The UN's MDG gateway
will have a dedicated page promoting the
various social media materials and initiatives
being organized by a number of UN agencies
and partners. The website is:www.un.org/millenniumgoals.
Soaring Demand for Metals
Calls for Rethink of Recycling Practices,
Says International Resource Panel
Wed, Apr 24, 2013
