The Multilateral Fund for the Ozone Layer from international organizations will provide a non-refundable aid of $1.26 million to Vietnam for the purpose of reducing ozone-depleting substances (ODS) during the period from now until 2010.
In the immediate term, the Fund will equip approximately 700 facilities in Vietnam with refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and vehicles, with a total value of around $600,000 to $650,000.
Vietnam officially joined the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) in January 1994. In 1995, the Prime Minister approved the “National Program of Vietnam for the gradual elimination of ozone-depleting substances.”
Over the past decade, Vietnam has received more than $4 million in financial and technological support from the Multilateral Fund for the Ozone Layer and has eliminated 50% of CFCs, approximately 250 tons, fully meeting its international obligations under the Protocol. Before the 1990s, Vietnam consumed about 500 tons of CFCs, 4 tons of halon, and nearly 400 tons of methyl bromide each year.
As a country with low ODS consumption (less than 0.004 kg per capita per year), Vietnam is classified among the countries under Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol, benefiting from extended phase-out deadlines and receiving non-refundable financial and technological support through projects from international agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank (WB).
Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, with funding from the World Bank, developed Vietnam’s national plan to completely eliminate CFC and halon consumption for the period of 2005-2009.
According to TTXVN
