Ratification of the Kigali Amendment IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Details of Kigali Amendment to the Protocol, the Kigali Amendment, was adopted at the Twenty Eighth (28th) Meeting of the Parties to the held in Kigali, Rwanda in October 2016. This fifth Amendment reaffirms global commitment to the protection of the layer as well as consideration of the effects ozone depleting substances on the climate. The commitment affirms through the phase down of the powerful climate-warming pollutants called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol. This Amendment was agreed to by all 197 Parties to the Montreal Protocol. Trinidad and Tobago The country attended the Kigali meeting and coming out of that meeting the meeting report was prepared and a draft Cabinet Note prepared with information regarding: ✓The details of the proposed amendment, phase down targets, dates, history of MP and current country implementation strategies and targets. ✓The justification for the amendment included Kigali being instrumental in TT meeting our climate obligations as well as future obligations under the MP. Cabinet Note sent for approval included the following items: ✓ The Kigali Amendment is seen as crucial as it comes just after the landmark Paris Agreement under the United Nations Convention for (UNFCCC), which aims at reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Together these two instruments will have a significant impact in the addressing the effects of climate change. ✓ Twinned with the Vision 2030 ✓ Climate ratification for the Paris agreement and the Carbon reduction strategies ✓ Emphasized that ratification was necessary to access any offers of funding under the Protocol. Ratification ✓The Cabinet Note was approved by Cabinet in October 2017. ✓Trinidad and Tobago being the first country in the region to ratify. ✓With the Vision 2030 alignment to Government agenda and the climate synergies, ratification of Kigali was an fairly smooth process. HFC and the Montreal Protocol – Public Awareness The National Ozone Unit has continued to be proactive and looked at next steps, As such even before we began the implementation of the HPMP in 2011 an important part of our public awareness initiatives included what we commonly call OZONE talks. One of the main clarification that have always been made in the talks were that while HFCs were given to member countries as the alternative to HCFCs there was another environmental concern with them, that of its high GWPs. And as such, best practice for technicians is to also ensure that these alternatives are not vented and where there are options to use natural this can be considered as a longer term alternative given the talks about HFC reductions that were already in the making globally. Training and Provision of Equipment Another important aspect of our HPMP, training of technicians continues over the years. ◦Hydrocarbon training and provision of HC units for training ◦This was based on the premise that HFCs were also on their way to being reduced and Hydrocarbons could be a viable alternative once the RAC sector was properly trained and comfortable with using the flammable refrigerant. ◦Hydrocarbon training highlighted the GWP of HFCs and that Hydrocarbon refrigerants had negiligible and no ODP, but were however flammable. Current and future planning Sector partners were instrumental in the acceptance of HFCs as a short term alternative. ✓ Importers, Training schools, and technicians were all in agreement once the information was presented that this was the way things needed to go and it was better that we began ✓HFCs on the import negative list already and are already in the public domain as gases that will be eventually phase out/down. Foreseeable Concerns Viable alternative have not been fully formed in some applications – ACs and Cars High cost of HFO124yf gas Developed countries began phase down in Jan 2018 (dumping) Destruction for HCFCs and HFCs