The Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Claude Nyamugabo Bazibuhe, has just launched a vibrant appeal for the preservation of the planet, on Monday, September 16, 2019, to celebrate the International Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The theme chosen for this celebration is « Improving human health and 32 years of the Vienna Convention ».

The DRC has already acceded to the Vienna Convention, the Montreal Protocol and the amendments to the Protocol. An institutional framework has been set up, consisting of an Ozone National Office (ONO) assisted by a National Committee, an inter-institutional platform for our country responsible for ensuring the implementation of this theme. It has also signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

With regard to the prospect of implementing the Paris Protocol, it is now time to ratify the Kigali amendment, which ushers in the era of a new technology using alternatives to substances that do not destroy the Ozone layer and therefore do not contribute to global warming.

Claude Nyamugabo thus appeals to parliamentarians to pay particular attention to the bill on the ratification of the Kigali amendment in force since January 2019, which will soon be submitted to them for consideration.

To economic operators in the refrigerants sector, the Minister reminds them that these substances under high surveillance require strict measures concerning their import, reimport, export and re-export, which must be authorised in advance by the competent national authority.

Users of these substances must remember that only responsible handling during the exercise of their profession can guarantee the future of the planet.

Finally, to Customs Controllers committed at borders for the strict application of the regulations in force.

Nadine FULA