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Si­de events at OEWG: Les­sons from the past and tack­ling the fu­ture

02.07.2018 , News :

In the course of the OEWG 40, GIZ Proklima presented its work during three side events. More than 100 participants from science, civil society as well as policymakers and industry members informed themselves about RAC inventories, "Greenfreeze" and safety security standards. 

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At the OEWG 40, GIZ Proklima presented its work during three side events © GIZ Proklima

Effective January 1, 2019, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol marks the beginning of the phasing-out of climate-damaging refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Yet monitoring the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) caused by these substances through storage, consumption and destruction remains a far from standardized process and many countries lack the experience to ensure effective and correct GHG inventories.

In response to this challenge, GIZ Proklima presented effective approaches to emission tracking in the RAC sector and demonstrated a specially developed emissions reporting tool that facilitates the countries' reporting of their HFCs emissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC (opens in a new window)). Selected partner countries also presented their personal experiences in the development and creation of GHG inventories.

During the second side event, GIZ Proklima celebrated and discussed the remarkable success story of 25 years “Greenfreeze”. This refrigerator illustrated the great impact of leapfrogging and the direct transition to natural refrigerants instead of using HFC technology as a temporary solution. Finally, together with EIA the GCI presented a new standard paper highlighting updated standards as a critical step to implementing the transition away from HCFCs and HFCs. In particular, issues concerning key safety standards applicable to Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Heat Pump (ACR&HP) systems and how those standards can be applied were debated.

The GIZ Proklima side events were financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU (opens in a new window)) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ (opens in a new window)). All presentations of the side events can be found on the website of the Ozone Secretariat (opens in a new window).