Croatia fully eliminates ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol

Croatia is the first country to completely abolish the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), one of the most damaging substances to the ozone layer, with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Montreal Protocol is regarded as one of the most successful environmental agreements to date. Its widespread adoption and implementation has been heralded as an example of exceptional international co-operation.

It was signed in 1987 after the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctic, the part of the upper atmosphere where ozone is found in high concentrations. Ozone is important because it absorbs ultraviolet radiation, preventing most of it from reaching the ground.

Concerted international action led to the signing in Montreal of a United Nations agreement to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals. Since the Protocol was signed 28 years ago, every country in the world has ratified it, committing them to preserving the ozone layer and the global environment.

The phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) has been one of the most important goals of the Protocol so far. UNIDO, as one of the implementing agencies, is responsible for the HCFC Phase-out Management Plan of 69 countries.

Croatia’s HCFC Phase-out Management Plan was approved in 2009 and originally the Plan was due for completion in the year 2016. However, Croatia’s accession to the European Union on 1 July 2013 influenced her obligations in regard to the elimination of ozone-depleting substances, and thus the procedure had to be considerably accelerated: the use of virgin and recovered/recycled HCFCs was banned as of 2013 and 2014.

At the ceremony to mark the successful completion of the project, held in Zagreb on 17 December 2015, Marija Šćulac-Domac, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection, said, “We are proud that Croatia is the first among all the Article 5 countries of the Montreal Protocol to abolish the use of HCFCs, 24 years before the final deadline set by the Montreal Protocol.”

With strong support from the government, the extraordinary efforts of project partners, industry and the service sector enabled training, retrofitting and replacement of equipment, distribution of demonstration units, and publication of training materials and technical literature to take place within a very tight deadline.

The project closing ceremony was celebrated by representatives of UNIDO and national project partners: the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection, the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, the Croatian Environment Agency, the Customs Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education, and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Zagreb.