Opening Remarks by Fatina Mukarubibi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment

World Ozone Day 2019 - Kigali, Rwanda

• Permanent Secretaries,
• Director General of REMA,
• Director Generals and heads of institutions,
• Development partners,
• Members of the business community and civil society,
• Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning! Mwaramutse!

It is an honour to join you to celebrate International Ozone Day. Today, we come together to celebrate being a part of the Montreal Protocol and affirm Rwanda’s commitment to protecting the ozone layer. It is an important opportunity to take stock of how far we have come to achieve this goal, and what still remains to be done.

The history of International Ozone Day began in 1987 when representatives from 24 countries met in Montreal, Canada and agreed that an international agreement was needed to stop humanity from destroying the ozone layer. In December 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed September 16 to be the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer to help support this objective.

We celebrate Ozone Day to create awareness about the importance of the ozone layer, how it gets depleted and what we can all do as policy makers, business owners and civil society to ensure its protection.

The theme of the 2019 Ozone  Day is “32 Years and Healing”. This calls us to celebrate three decades of success and extraordinary international cooperation to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the Montreal protocol. It also reminds us that we need to keep up the momentum to ensure healthy people and a healthy planet.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Rwanda joined the rest of the world as a party to the Montreal Protocol in 2003. This protocol outlines the obligations and responsibilities of all nations in preserving the ozone layer. Even though Rwanda is not among the principal emitters of ozone depleting substances, we must still play our role - as citizens of planet Earth and as people of a country that has put environmental protection at the center of our development.

In doing so, Rwanda has positioned itself as a leader in advocating and facilitating for global policies and actions that promote the protection of the ozone layer and our climate. You will recall that in 2016, Rwanda hosted the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol where the Kigali Amendment was adopted by delegates from all over the world. This affirmed to the rest of the world Rwanda’s commitment and dedication to play its role in this noble cause.

Rwanda has also recently adopted a National Cooling Strategy, which is one of the results of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

The strategy brings together policy and programmatic considerations across a range of stakeholder groups. It guides technology suppliers on the requirements to sell cooling products in the Rwandan market, and help consumers distinguish the performance of air conditioners and refrigerators through product labels.

The implementation of this strategy will allow businesses, residents, civil society, and the government to enjoy the benefits of energy-efficiency and climate-friendly cooling systems.

I encourage the business community to own this strategy, which will be presented in detail to you today, and to ensure its successful implementation. 

To conclude, I would like to thank you, as government officials, development partners,  business leaders, academia and civil society for taking their time to celebrate with us today.

We are especially grateful to our national and global partners who have supported the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in Rwanda. For example, the Rwanda Standards Board has worked hand in hand with customs to control the importation of ozone depleting substances.

The protocol’s Multilateral Fund has enabled implementing agencies such as UN Environment to support Rwanda and other countries to achieve their obligations under the Montreal Protocol. We look forward to your continued collaboration as we strive to achieve the Kigali Amendment on hydrofluorocarbons.

I wish you a very happy International Ozone Day. Let us celebrate our success and 32 years of hard work to protect the ozone layer.

Thank you!