Background:

This project will extend the institutional strengthening support for an additional two years from April 2019 to March 2021 to the National Ozone Layer Protection Unit, Department of Environment (DOE) of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The project is intended to provide financial and administrative facilities to enable coordination of all activities to effectively and efficiently phase-out Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) in Iran through adoption of sound regulation and policies, devising effective monitoring procedures and plans, and providing technical support for on-going projects as well as converted manufacturing units.

ODS are used in refrigeration, foam extrusion, industrial cleaning, fire extinguishing and fumigation.

The Montreal Protocol (MP) on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ODS. The treaty came into force on 1 January 1989 and is structured around several groups of halogenated hydrocarbons that have been shown to play a role in ozone depletion. All of these ODS contain either chlorine or bromine.

The Multilateral Fund (MLF) for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol provides funds to help developing countries comply with their obligations under the Protocol to phase out the use of ODS at an agreed schedule. The MLF was established by the London Amendment to the Protocol in 1990.

Iran initiated policy measures for ODS phase-out as part of the original Country Programme (CP) for Iran at the 10^th meeting of the MP’s Executive Committee in 1993. The establishment of the National Ozone Unit (NOU) within the DOE followed in 1995. Since then, comprehensive policy and regulatory frameworks covering institutional, regulatory, fiscal, and legislative actions have been established. Ratification of conventions, protocols and some of their amendments in the 1990s created a comprehensive framework to adopt national laws related to MP decisions.  Subsequently, new ODS rules and regulations were introduced based on existing laws in Iran.

Key achievements to date:

• Complete phase-out of the controlled substances under the Montreal Protocol in accordance with the Protocol’s reduction schedule (resulting in the phase out around 9,700 ODP tonnes).
• Establishing Iran’s National Ozone Network (NON) to act as a decentralized mechanism to carry out, in cooperation with the National Ozone Unit, some of the key activities under the Montreal Protocol including information outreach and dissemination to raise public awareness.
• Establishing a halon recovery and recycling center (halon is used for fire extinguishing).
• Conversion/equipping of 1377 units in Iran that manufacture the substances that are being phased-out under the Montreal Protocol.