The Federal Ministry of Environment has inaugurated the project steering committee on the phasing out of chemicals that deplete the earth’s ozone layer.
According NAN, the stage II of the Hydro chlorofluorocarbons Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP) was aimed at protecting the ozone layer.
Inaugurating the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, said that the stage II project was aimed at achieving a complete phase-out of ozone depleting blowing agents and refrigerants in foam and refrigeration sector.
“Having successfully completed stage I of our HPMP, stage II of the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the implementation of Montreal Protocol with the aim to achieve the complete phase-out of ozone depleting blowing agents and refrigerants.
”The overall commitment of HPMP Stage II is to phase-out 51.35 per cent of ozone depleting refrigerants consumption by 2023. The project will be executed by my ministry in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme as lead implementing agency, UNIDO and the government of Italy, a bilateral agency,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, had called on the inaugurated members to ensure they worked together to achieve the desired results.
“I wish to acknowledge with thanks, the efforts of our implementing agencies, UNDP and UNIDO for effective collaboration and support we have enjoyed in the implementation of the HPMP project,” she said.
The UNDP Resident Representative, Mohamed Yahya, said its focus was to assist Nigeria achieve the targeted agreement it had with MPS in phasing out ozone depleting substances in the country.
