New Delhi: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) celebrated the 29th World Ozone Day in New Delhi on Saturday. World Ozone Day is celebrated on September 16 each year to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol, an international environmental treaty for phasing out production and consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances. The treaty came into force on this day in 1987. World Ozone Day is celebrated every year to spread awareness among people about the depletion of the Ozone Layer and the measures taken/to be taken to stop it. The Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been celebrating the World Ozone Day since 1995 at the National and State levels.
The theme for World Ozone Day 2023 was “Montreal Protocol: fixing the ozone layer and reducing climate change.”
Leena Nandan Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, was the Chief Guest for the event. Addressing the event, she emphasised that India has been proactive in the Montreal Protocol implementation and highlighted achievements of the country and the new initiatives being taken for preparing for the implementation of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol for the phase down of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). She commended children for their overwhelming response in the competitions organised by the ministry on the theme. The Chief Guest also highlighted the other initiatives of the MOEFCC, including LIFE mission and the synergies amongst various activities for the protection of the environment. Atul Bagai, Head, UNEP India office, and Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP India office, also addressed participants.
On the occasion, winning entries of National level Poster and slogan competitions for school children was released. To create awareness among the students to protect the Ozone Layer, competitions in the categories of Poster and Slogan Writing were organised for school children across the country. For the poster category, 4,686 entries were received and 1,466 entries in slogan writing category, respectively, through a web portal developed for the purpose. The winning entries were finalised by a panel of judges.
The 25th edition of ‘The Montreal Protocol: India’s Success Story’ highlighting India’s achievements in the Montreal Protocol Implementation in phasing out of Ozone Depleting Substances till date was also released.
An Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) for Domestic Manufacturing and Production Sector – Alternative Refrigerants and technologies, Research and Development, and Servicing Sector was unveiled. The action plan for each of the three thematic areas has been finalised after mapping of the recommendations given in the ICAP with the ongoing government programmes/schemes and the proposed actions by different agencies, after extensive discussions with all the concerned stakeholders including line ministries/departments.
Stage-III of the HCFC Phase out Management Plan (HPMP), to be implemented from 2023 to 2030, to meet the HCFC phaseout compliance obligations of 2025 and 2030 was also rolled out. Phase-out of HCFCs in manufacturing of new equipment must be completed by December 31, 2024 and a complete phaseout of HCFCs as on January 1, 2030 for all controlled applications was agreed on.
Study Report on “Sustainable e-commerce cold chain infrastructure” aims to promote measures for developing e-commerce infrastructure for cold chain which would result in the overall development of the cold chain sector in a sustainable manner.
A study report on “Public Procurement Policies for Hiring Trained and Certified Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Service Technicians” aims to examine the benefits associated with the utilisation of trained and certified technicians, to evaluate the influence of their specialised knowledge not only in improving the performance of the equipment, but also promoting the energy efficiency of the equipment through good servicing practices.
