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Jamaica ahead of target on eliminating ozone layer depleting substances

Published:Thursday | September 12, 2019 | 10:20 AM
Project Manager in the National Ozone Unit at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Vivian Blake - Contributed photo.

Jamaica is way ahead of the national target for phasing out the use of chemical compounds that are harmful to the ozone layer.

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are compounds consisting of hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, and carbon atoms.

These compounds were created in the 1980s as substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for use in refrigeration and a wide variety of manufacturing processes.

It was later discovered that these classes of compounds contributed to the damaging of the earth's ozone layer and by extension global warming.

This led to international agreements calling for the elimination of the production and use of the compounds.

Project Manager in the National Ozone Unit at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Vivian Blake, said 2018 figures show that Jamaica is at 55 metric tonnes of imports.

This is way below the national target, which is 241 metric tonnes of allowed imports of HCFCs by 2025.

He was speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Wednesday to highlight the work of the unit.

The reduction in imports of HCFCs is in keeping with Jamaica’s commitments under the 1987 United Nations Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Montreal Protocol, which was ratified by 197 countries, sets national targets to phase out the manufacture and use of ozone-depleting substances, which include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Jamaica phased out the use of CFCs in refrigeration in 2006, four years ahead of the protocol’s schedule.

“Since then, the alternatives to the CFCs, which are highly ozone-depleting substances – the HCFCs – came on stream and Jamaica is actively, along with its stakeholders, phasing out these substances,” Blake said.

“They contribute to global warming because they are powerful greenhouse gases. Already, we have alternatives to these, which are natural refrigerants,” he added.

HCFCs are used in refrigeration and air-conditioning units as alternatives to CFCs.

However, the use of HCFCs will also be phased out under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

The National Ozone Unit reports that the hole in the ozone layer is healing at a rate of one to three per cent per annum.

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