Fiji to Host Ozone-Depleting Substances Meeting

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

MEDIA RELEASE

HEADLINE:

Fiji to Host the Pacific Island Countries (PIC) Network Meeting of Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) Officers, 28th – 30th July, 2010

News in brief:

(FRIDAY 23RD JULY, 2010 No:1101/ MOI/DOE) FIJI TO HOST THE PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES (PIC) NETWORK MEETING OF OZONE-DEPLETING SUBSTANCES (ODS) OFFICERS, 28TH – 30TH JULY, 2010

Fiji Government will be hosting the 2nd Meeting of the Pacific Island Countries Network for Ozone (ODS) Environment Officers.

By hosting this meeting Fiji will be able to generate awareness among other government and its partners and the public on the ozone issues and the national phase-out policy and strategy. This initiative is fully supported by Government and is co-shared financially with United Nations Environment Programme.

Fiji has been a member of the South East Asian Pacific Network but will also be invited to this meeting as a resource country to share its experiences as it is more advanced in terms of implementing the Montreal Protocol and ODS Legislations for more than 10 years now.

The meeting is to enable ODS Officers from developing countries to learn and share experiences on the phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). This meeting will be held from the 28th – 30th July 2010 at Shangri La’s Resort & Spa.

The objective and foremost important issue that will be discussed is the successful and effective phase-out of Hydrofluorocarbon (HCFC) which is commonly used in the air- conditions, chillers etc, in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector.

Member countries include (Developing countries members) Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu; (Developed Countries member) Australia and New Zealand will be attending this meeting.

Along with member countries are representatives from the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol, Ozone Secretariat, SPREP, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and other resource persons.

For more information on Government events and decisions log onto the official Government portal www.fiji.gov.fj

ENDS