International News
Steve Gill
presenting
on World
Refrigeration
Day at UNEP
earlier this
year.
“The interest and support is incredible, and the momentum
is still growing and gathering pace with new associations
and bodies wanting to get involved all the time,” says Gill.
“A million is an astonishing number by anyone’s measure.
What’s more, we are now getting interest from associations
outside of the HVAC&R industry, with those representing end-
users, such as the cold-chain, pharmaceutical, and food and
beverage industries, and even sports associations such as ice
skating. Amazing!”
UNITED NATIONS AND THE WORLD BANK “To have the opportunity to speak to a UNEP meeting about our
industry and what it does for the world was both an honour and
a privilege,” says Gill. “On a personal level, it is something that I
will never forget and as someone representing our industry it is
a dream come true. I was able to talk about the passion and the
professionalism of our industry on a world stage. This opened
an opportunity to connect to the World Bank and an invitation
to present to them. The importance of raising awareness of
refrigeration is essential for them to achieve a number of their
objectives so they are very willing to help promote and support
WRD. They all welcome WRD as a great idea.”
This momentum and growth in support has attracted the
attention of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP). UNEP recognises that refrigeration plays an essential
role in many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and that raising awareness of refrigeration would help
support their aims and complement their initiatives.
It was an extraordinary moment when on 18 February
in Paris, UNEP’s OzonAction announced it had joined the
growing group of partners around the world supporting WRD.
This has now been joined by a further UNEP initiative, the
Cooling Coalition. UNEP will be promoting and supporting
WRD in the 147 developing economies in which they operate.
In addition, the World Bank has said it would be pleased to
promote WRD because it fits in with the organisation’s own
work in this area. This inaugural WRD, although a long time in the making, has
crept up upon many and taken them by surprise. They have not
had time to plan what to do. There are some physical events
planned but by and large, this year’s celebration will be mostly
a virtual one through online social media support. However,
developments are happening quickly so there may be more
physical events announced in the lead-up to the day.
UNEP is planning a series of webinars on the day to support
their initiatives. Some of the associations that were involved
from the beginning such as the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR),
and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) are holding
physical events. Details of these will be given on their websites
and through the WRD website.
www.hvacronline.co.za
WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON 26 JUNE
RACA Journal I June 2019
13