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On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026, UNEP Law Division’s OzonAction and the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme has launched a global campaign honoring the women safeguarding the integrity of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, its Kigali Amendment, and the broader environmental compliance and enforcement landscape.
Global commitments under multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are translated into concrete national measures. In the case of the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment, this means establishing legislation, including licensing and permitting systems, allocating quotas, defining import and export controls, monitoring implementation and addressing non-compliance to ensure effective enforcement.
Across MEAs, enforcement starts at the border, where officers prevent the illegal movement of controlled or hazardous substances or trade in protected species. This frontline work requires a combination of regulatory understanding, technical expertise, and real-time decision-making to protect national compliance and global environmental integrity. In the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment context, customs officers use regulatory knowledge, identification skills, and specialized tools to spot irregular shipments of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC).
➜ Customs Officers validate licenses, check documentation against national quotas, assess shipment risks, and use refrigerant identifiers to detect undeclared or mislabeled substances before they cross borders. The vigilance of these women helps prevent illegal trade and ensures that licensing and quota systems are upheld.
See some of these officers have been highlight in the link below. Including our own Lilita Narine-Chattergoon from Trinidad and Tobago.
Frontline Champions: Women in Environmental Enforcement | Ozonaction
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This study at the link below assesses the extent of environmental dumping of new room air conditioners (room ACs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and explores this practice’s linkages to cooling access and affordability there. It also examines the current state of the room AC market and energy efficiency policies in the region. Covering 11 countries (Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay), the analysis relies on room AC data from 2023 and 2025.
This was facilitated through the GEF-6 project being implemented by the Ministry of Planning Economic Affairs and Development and supported by the UNDP.
The session aimed to provide:
Under the GEF 6 Energy Efficiency in RAC project , a validation workshop was held with RAC stakeholders to review the findings of the consultant who is developing a RAC disposal scheme. This is coming out of the fact finding workshop which was completed in November 2025.
Innovation in Cooling: Technologies without refrigerant gases.
This Green Cooling Webinar took place on 12 February 2026, 1-2 pm CET (12 – 1pm UTC), virtually (MS Teams).
Presented were two pioneering German companies that are redefining cooling from new perspectives:
Pervormance is providing thermal comfort right where it is needed, close to the human body with cooling textiles.
MAGNOTHERM is shifting the cooling
industry towards refrigerant-free alternatives by introducing safe,
sustainable, and efficient magnetic cooling technology for commercial
refrigeration and beyond.
The recording of the Webinar and the PDF of the presentations are at the link below
The National Ozone Unit continued its awareness activities through a mural at Tunapuna Presbyterian Primary School. This compounds information imparted through a presentation previously done at the school.
Air_-_A_Natural_Refrigerant_Information_paper_2026.pdf
Air refrigeration systems use ambient air as the refrigerant, offering a natural and environmentally friendly cooling solution. With growing environmental awareness and regulations such as the EU F-Gas Regulation, air cycle refrigeration technology is gaining increasing relevance. Air neither depletes the ozone layer nor contributes to global warming, making it a future-proof alternative to conventional refrigerants. An additional advantage is its unlimited availability. Air cycle machines present an effective solution for ultra-low-temperature applications from −40 °C to −160 °C. The machines, characterized by their efficient and wear-free turbo technology, demonstrate notable advantages in terms of energy efficiency, reliability, future viability, and safety. Practical applications include freeze-drying processes, which have demonstrated potential energy savings of up to 19% compared to traditional refrigerants like R404A. Air cycle refrigeration has also been successfully employed in cold room applications, providing efficient cooling with-out moisture-related problems due to innovative dehumidification systems. Air refrigeration systems thus offer considerable environmental, operational, and economic benefits for industries requiring low-temperature refrigeration. The versatility of air refrigeration provides advantages such as high operational safety, environ-mental friendliness, and cost efficiency, particularly in highly regulated environments.
Source:Air as a natural refrigerant - Green Cooling Initiative
You are cordially invited to an upcoming webinar on: Innovation in Cooling: Technologies without refrigerant gases.
This Green Cooling Webinar is taking place on 12 February 2026, 1-2 pm CET (12 – 1pm UTC), virtually (MS Teams).
They are proud to present two pioneering German companies that are redefining cooling from new perspectives:
Pervormance is providing thermal comfort right where it is needed, close to the human body with cooling textiles.
MAGNOTHERM is shifting the cooling industry towards refrigerant-free alternatives by introducing safe, sustainable, and efficient magnetic cooling technology for commercial refrigeration and beyond.
Curious to learn how these technologies work and what they mean for the future of cooling?
Join this webinar and discover how innovation is transforming the cooling sector — sustainably, efficiently, and without refrigerant gases.
Preliminary agenda:
|
Topic |
Speaker
|
|
|
12:00-12:10 |
Opening
Remarks |
Ellen Michel |
|
12:10-12:40 |
Presentation
Pervormance Presentation Magnotherm
|
Sabine Stein/ Timur
Sirman/ |
|
12:40-13:00 |
Q&A |
All participants |
The webinar series is organised by GIZ Proklima and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
If you would like to share this invitation with your
colleagues and network, please use this registration link: GCI Webinar: Innovation in Cooling -
Technologies without refrigeration gases - Green Cooling Initiative
