BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 25. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Turkmenistan are implementing a major project under an international agreement, Communications Officer of the UNIDO Charles Arthur, told Trend.
According to him, this project is the implementation of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) Phase-Out Management Plan, which will lead to the phasing out of a large number of potentially ozone-depleting chemicals and will help Turkmenistan achieve the target of reducing basic HCFC consumption by 67.5 percent by 2025.
Charles Arthur noted that in September 2020 Turkmenistan became the first Central Asian country to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and also added that this amendment is an international agreement on the gradual reduction of consumption and production of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons.
"HFCs do not contain chlorine, so they do not cause ozone depletion, and therefore have been replacing HCFCs under the Montreal Protocol. However, hydrofluorocarbons are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, so this amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that countries promise to phase down. Turkmenistan is required to freeze HFC production and use in 2024, with an 80 percent reduction in use by 2045," the representative of UNIDO said.
The Kigali Amendment is the fifth amendment to the Montreal Protocol adopted to reduce the consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, which were often used as a substitute for ozone-depleting substances.
More than 140 countries have ratified the Kigali Amendment so far. It is estimated that the global implementation of the amendment will prevent emissions of up to 80 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2050.