At a meeting of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic on June 4, 2020, deputies adopted the draft law “On ratification of the amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, adopted in the city of Kigali, Republic of Rwanda, on October 15, 2016.”
Supporting the efforts of the international community to solve the problem of preserving the ozone layer, the Kyrgyz Republic has ratified all international agreements in this area. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer were ratified on January 15, 2000, the London, Copenhagen and Montreal amendments on May 13, 2003, and the Beijing Amendment on October 5, 2005. Our state fully complies with the provisions The Montreal Protocol, and for selected ozone-depleting substances (ODS) is ahead of the schedule for their cessation of use. Today, the Kyrgyz Republic is facing the threshold of beginning preparations for a new task. At the international level, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are being decommissioned, including R-134a, R-404a, R-407C, R-410A, R-507C, etc., which have replaced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and widely used in the manufacture of refrigeration and freezing equipment, air conditioning systems, blowing agents, including for the production of building materials, fire protection, aerosols for various purposes, as well as in the manufacture of medicines in the form of metered-dose inhalers.
On October 15, 2016, in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, 197 parties to the Montreal Protocol approved a new climate amendment to the treaty aimed at combating a significant increase in the production and consumption of HFCs and increasing its emissions during the operation of equipment based on their use. The Kigali Amendment regulates the issues of consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which do not harm the ozone layer, but belong to the group of greenhouse gases. The amendment involves their gradual removal from production processes by 80–85% by 2047, which as a result will slow global warming by 0.5 ° C by the end of the century (taking into account a further reduction in CO2 and methane emissions).
The Kigali Amendment complements the Montreal Protocol with provisions for phasing out HFCs. In particular:
– It is envisaged that HFC consumption should stop growing in 2024 and begin to gradually decrease by 2047 to 80% of the average consumption level for 2020-22.
– Production, consumption, import, export, emissions, as well as basic levels of HFC consumption will be expressed for reporting to the world community in CO2- equivalents.
– Licensing systems for import and export of new, used, recycled and recycled HFCs should be introduced.
– Trade with countries that have not ratified the Kigali Amendment will be prohibited in the future.
The ratification by the Kyrgyz Republic of a new climate amendment to the Montreal Protocol will require capacity-building in the refrigeration servicing sector and the decommissioning of HFCs. There are potential benefits for equipment owners in terms of modernizing their maintenance in order to reduce energy costs, frequent equipment breakdowns and, as a result, perishable product losses. The implementation of the Kigali Amendment will require certain efforts both from the state and from end users in the field of refrigeration equipment and air conditioning systems. Previous experience in the development and successful implementation of measures to reduce the consumption of ozone-depleting substances in Kyrgyzstan during 2002-2020 showed that in order to transfer the cooling industry to international service standards in the coming years it will be necessary to:
1) develop of a national action plan for the decommissioning of HFCs, including the introduction of new technical standards that will ensure the widespread introduction of equipment and technologies using natural refrigerants (ammonia, hydrocarbons, CO2, etc.);
2) expand the scope of the legislation governing the handling of ODS in HFCs;
3) license of import / export of HFCs and ensuring continuous monitoring of their movement, from the supply of chemicals to their final disposal after use.
4) introduce of reporting on the country’s consumption of HFCs (import into the country) with further regulation of trade with countries that are not Parties to the Kigali Amendment;
5) retrain (advanced training) and certificate of refrigeration industry specialists working on new types of refrigerants, including natural ones;
6) report and monitor of standards for the use of HFCs.
The upcoming task after the ratification of the Kigali Amendment is to streamline the implementation of national legislation in the climate sector of Kyrgyzstan, extract the maximum benefit for the country from attracting investments, strengthen personnel, create a basis for the preparation and implementation of new green technologies, increase energy efficiency in the cooling technology sectors and minimize the country’s import dependence from synthetic refrigerants.
The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on ratification of the Kigali Amendment will help to gradually reduce the consumption of HFCs in refrigeration systems and climatic equipment and replace them with alternative technologies, eliminate environmental damage and climate change and strengthen administrative barriers to the circulation of chemical substances.
