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UNEP Wins Prestigious USEPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for the Second Time

Award Spotlights Montreal Protocol Achievements for Sound Chemical Management in Asia Pacific

Bangkok, 3 May 2007 – The United Nations Environment Programme has, for the second time, won the prestigious United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. The award was presented 1 May in Washington D.C, to Atul Bagai, Regional Network Coordinator for South Asia for UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) OzonAction Programme.

The US EPA highlighted Bagai’s work in assisting countries in the region, including both large countries like China and India and small countries like Bhutan and Afghanistan, to comply with their international commitments under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The award recognizes his work in “designing strategic approaches on development and implementation, of institutional mechanisms and innovative capacity building activities in the countries.”

Receiving the 2007 edition of the USEPA award is particularly significant for UNEP as the Montreal Protocol will celebrate its 20th anniversary on 16 September this year. Awards such as this contribute to raising public awareness about the contribution of the myriad organizations and individuals around the world that have made this multilateral environmental agreement work so effectively.

Mr Bagai joins six individuals and six organizations in receiving the award this year. In the Asia Pacific region, Dr. Sachidananda Satapathy from India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests’ Ozone Cell and the World Customs Organization’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific were also honored with the award. The Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award winners have helped to eliminate the use of ozone depleting chemicals in the agriculture and aviation sectors, and in medical inhalers. The winners have also helped to lead the phase-out of ozone depleting substances in developing countries, raise awareness about skin cancer prevention, and monitor the status of ozone layer recovery.

"As part of the Bush Administration's aggressive yet practical strategy, EPA is pleased to work with partners like these award winners to protect the Earth's atmosphere in cost-effective ways," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "Environmental protection is everyone's responsibility, and these leaders are making smart choices to hand down a cleaner, healthier future."

Bagai joined UNEP in August 2000 as a Training Officer for UNEP’s OzonAction Programme, which was established under the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund to help developing countries take the practical and strategic steps necessary to comply with the treaty. In 2002, he was appointed Regional Network Coordinator for the South Asia under UNEP’s Compliance Assistance Programme.

“Asia Pacific is a diverse region with its share of challenges. It is gratifying to see the recognition that is being given to the leadership with team work undertaken in ensuring compliance of the Protocol and phase out, critical in this region as the 2010 target date approaches,” said Surendra Shrestha, Regional Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. “It shows how commitment and innovative approaches of a global target can be met through collective action of governments.”

A member of the Indian Administrative Service, Atul Bagai has served as the National Ozone Officer from 1998-2000. During his tenure in that capacity, he handled significant strategy and policy issues, facilitating India’s Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) phase-out strategy and compliance with the Montreal Protocol. He was instrumental in finalizing regulations for controlling production and consumption of ODS, negotiated sector phase out agreements for reduction of CFC production in India, and participated in several teams to develop Montreal Protocol policy and regulatory responses.

“I am happy to accept this award on behalf of UNEP and DTIE, as well as our team in Asia Pacific,” said Bagai.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Satwant Kaur, Regional Information Officer
United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
Tel: + (66 2) 288 2127; E-mail: kaur@un.org

NOTES TO EDITORS:

For more information about the recovery of the ozone layer, see the Executive Summary of “UNEP/WMO Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2006” and UNEP’s press release at http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/Assessment_Reports/

UNEP’s OzonAction Programme won USEPA’s Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award in 2005 for “leadership and innovation” in assisting developing countries. It was the first-ever award of this kind by USEPA to a United Nations agency.

UNEP is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989. Since then, it has undergone five revisions, in 1990 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing). Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international cooperation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying it is "Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date...”

About the Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) for Asia and the Pacific
In 2002, UNEP as an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol made a conscious departure from the past in assisting developing countries to enable them to implement the Montreal Protocol. This departure emerges from the new context in which developing countries now operate under the compliance regime of the Protocol. The new context of compliance regime requires countries to: achieve and sustain compliance, promote a greater sense of country ownership and implement the agreed Executive Committee framework for strategic planning.

In line with this re-orientation, UNEP proposed through the Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) to work from 5 regions, i.e. South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, West Asia and Europe/Central Asia Each of the regional CAP teams is headed by a Regional Network Coordinator.. Consistent with the above approach the Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (ROAP) CAP team has developed to be the centre for policy advice, compliance guidance and conduct training to refrigeration technicians, customs officers and other relevant stakeholders on compliance issues, promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation and promote high-level awareness by utilizing UNEP’s staff.