Saint Lucia plans to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by phasing out hydrofluorocarbons. HFCs are harmless to the ozone layer but are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide.

National Ozone Officer Kasha Hytmiah, said the National Ozone Unit is engaging the refrigeration and air conditioning sector to hasten Saint Lucia’s transition to natural alternatives. This latest effort is called the Kigali Implementation Plan (KIP).

“Saint Lucia’s KIP was launched in a ceremony on World Ozone Day, September 16. The KIP will run concurrently with the Ozone Unit’s Hydrochlorofluorocarbon Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP),” she said. “Customs Officers will receive training from the National Ozone Unit on a licensing and quota system for HFCs, meanwhile the National Ozone Unit and the Energy Unit of the Ministry of Infrastructure will explore how the environmental and energy efficiency of natural refrigerants can justify incentivizing importers.”

The Kigali Implementation Plan of the National Ozone Unit is a collateral benefit of the Montreal Protocol—the International Ozone Treaty—through its Kigali Amendment. In addition to the KIP Launch, World Ozone Day this year was commemorated with the annual Reset Earth Movie and Games Day event, so that students could learn more about the treaty and the overall effort to phase out ozone-depleting and global warming chemicals.