DHAKA: Abdullah Al Islam Jakob, the deputy minister for environment and forests, in favour of the government of Bangladesh, has been elected as the vice president (VP) of the COP (Committees of the Parties) and MOP (Meeting of the Parties) to the ‘26th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol’ and ‘10th Meeting of the COP to the Vienna Convention’.

The election took place on Thursday in an international Meeting at UNESCO HQs in Paris, France organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), said a press release in the night.

Moreover, the ministry of foreign affairs’ press release added that Cesar Vinicoo Montero Suarez from Bolivia has been elected as the President of the COP and Rodrigo Siles lora from Guatemala has been elected as the President of the MOP in the Meeting.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer.

The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on September 16, 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989.

Since accession to the Montreal Protocol on August 2, 1990 by Bangladesh and subsequent ratification of amendments to the Protocol, Bangladesh government has been implementing Montreal Protocol in the country and successfully completed with 100% CFCs reduction target in 2010 in the Refrigeration and Air-condition sector and also to the solvent and other sectors. These issues have been appreciated by the Meeting.

BDST: 0351 HRS, NOV 21, 2014