Ministry of Environment to Celebrate World Ozone Day
By 1985, the world came to realization of ozone depletion and its impacts on human health and the environment. It was then that the Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone Layers was created in response. Pursuant to the convention, the Montreal Protocol came into effect in 1987, requiring countries to take actions to protect the Ozone layer. On May 16, 1989, Maldives signed the Montreal Protocol.
This year’s theme and tag-line for the World Ozone Day is ‘Ozone for Life – 35 Years of Ozone Layer Protection.’ To date, Parties of the Protocol have phased out 98% of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) globally compared to 1990 levels. Since Maldives signed the Protocol, significant milestones have been achieved in commitment to the cause.
- 1998 – Maldives signs Montreal Protocol
- 2002 – Implementation of a license requirement to import any ODS
- 2003 – Banned import of Halons, Methyl Bromide, Bromochloromethane, methylechloroform
- 2004 – Banned import of all equipment using CFC-11 and CFC-12
- 2005 – Refrigerant Management plan was implemented
- 2008 – Rolls out Terminal Phase-out Management Plan. Maldives also became one of the first countries in the world to eliminate the use of CFCs.
- 2010 – HDFC Phase-out Management Plan was put into action
- 2011 – Limits and controls on import, sale and use of HCFC was imposed. A Regulation for Management and Control of HCFC and its blends was also gazetted.
- 2015 – Ozone Layer Protection Act came into force.
- 2016 – Ban od HCFC equipment
- 2017 – Regulation for ODS and its equipment. Kigali Amendment was ratified in the same year.
- 2019 – Kigali Amendment which endorses to reduce the production and consumption of HFCs enters into force
- 2020 – Maldives schedules to completely phase out HCFCs
Being at the forefront of risk in the events of climate change, it is vital that innovative approaches are taken to achieve dual benefits of maximizing the climate co-benefit from HCFC phase-out. Ozone depletion is highly linked to the environment changes that has occurred since the industrial era.