Environment

Vietnam bars CFCs to protect ozone layer

All chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone depleting gases, will be barred from entering Vietnam as of January 1, 2010, a Vietnamese environmental official has said.
All chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozonedepleting gases, will be barred from entering Vietnam as of January 1,2010, a Vietnamese environmental official has said.

CFCs are man-made chemical compounds used as refrigerants and toproduce foam materials, which also contribute to the dwindling of theozone layer.

Permanent Vice Minister of Natural Resources and EnvironmentNguyen Van Duc announced this at a ceremony in Hanoi to markInternational Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer September 16.

He added that his ministry is expected to submit to the Government forconsideration policy measures to also prohibit the use ofhydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as regulated by the MontrealProtocol, which was ratified by Vietnam in 1994. HCFCs are one class ofchemicals being used to replace the CFCs, but they also trigger ozonedepletion.

According to the World Bank’s estimates, Vietnam needs around 20million USD in the next 15-20 years to eradicate completely the usageof HCFCs.

The estimates was made amid concerns that most of businesses have notfound an ideal substitute for HCFCs, while the prices of substitutesusually used as well as alternative green technology are too highrelative to their initial investment capacty.

However, Ozone Multilateral Fund of the World Bank has by now funded7.3 million USD worth of financial support and technology to Vietnameseenterprises to help them stop using CFCs. Among them are a series ofcompanies and 850 establishments that repair car air conditioning units./.
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