Maldives plan full HCFC phase-out 20 years ahead of schedule
[ added 18 February, 2010 ]
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The Maldives have announced to phase out HCFCs by 2020. An initiative in line with the island nation’s endeavour to become the first carbon neutral country.
The Maldives are one of the countries being most directly effected by climate change. Scientist warn that ongoing unrestricted carbon emissions will result in rising sea levels that are likely to flood the island state. Therefore highly involved in the fight against climate change, the Maldives invest in becoming the first carbon-free country and in setting the pace for others to follow.
In a first step, the country opts - 20 years ahead of schedule - for a full phase-out of hydrochloroflurocarbons (HCFCs) that are ozone depleting, potent greenhouse gases and despite tha fact that under the Montreal Protocol they are scheduled for phase-out in 2040.
Opportunities for natural refrigerants
The phase-out of HCFCs which are mainly used in refrigeration, air-conditioning units, refrigerators and a wide variety of manufacturing processes, demands of course their replacement through alternative substances. In the Maldives, nearly 100 tourist resorts spread over more than 1,000 islands use HCFCs in their installations. Countries which in the past converted from HCFCs passed mostly over to HFCs which were specifically created to replace HCFCs but were also found to contribute heavily to climate change.
BeyondHFCs would like to highlight that the Maldives have the great opportunity to leapfrog the temporary solution of replacing HCFCs with HFCs and move directly to natural refrigerants such as CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons which have close to zero global warming potential. In other words, natural refrigerants have a quasi null effect on the environment.
The Maldives are supported by the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) OzonAction Programme that assists developing countries in the design of HCFC phase-out management plans. These plans include phase-out of HCFCs consumption as well as the draft of policy and legislations, training and capacity building activities and information outreach for HCFC phase-out.
