Lesotho is the Party to the 1985 Vienna and 1987 Montreal Protocol on the protection of Ozone Layer through passing the instrument of accession to both in 1994. This mandates Lesotho to phase out substances that deplete the Ozone Layer (Ozone Depleting Substances) and accord to both agreement by controlling consumption of Ozone Depleting and report under article 7 of the Montreal Protocol to the Ozone Secretariat by end of July each year and Country programme progress reported by end of March each year to the Multilateral Fund secretariat.

Currently Lesotho’s consumption of HFCs and ODS is predominantly in the servicing of RAC equipment. Hence, the country’s HFCs and ODS are dominantly accounted for by the RAC sector. The use of RAC is expanding, as people want to improve their socio-economic status. Most households in urban centres have refrigeration appliances and a few of them have even installed air conditioning units. Most of RAC appliances depend on HFCs and HFC blends with the latest models using HC refrigerants.

Lesotho is committed to protecting the earth’s ozone layer and the environment in general, including curtailing greenhouse gas emissions. Lesotho acceded to the Vienna Convention (VC) and the Montreal Protocol (MP) on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer on 23rd March 1994 and subsequently ratified the London, Copenhagen, Montreal and Beijing Amendments on 15th April 20105 as well as the Kigali Amendment on the 7th October 2019 The government of Lesotho has committed itself to ODS Phase-out Strategy in response to MP call.

Various pieces of evidence amply demonstrate Lesotho’s commitment to play its role as party to this critical global agenda. For instance, Lesotho has been reporting its ODS consumption data as well as data on the progress of implementation of its Country Programme to the Ozone Secretariat and the MF Secretariat respectively on schedule. Lesotho is also a Party to several multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The table below shows the status of Lesotho’s ratification of the ozone and climate-related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

Lesotho’s Country Programme for the Phase-out of ODS was approved by the Executive Committee of the MF at its 8th Meeting in October 1992. During the same year, a countrywide ODS survey was conducted which confirmed that Lesotho did not produce any ODS but imported all its requirements.

Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) is the Government of Lesotho's arm in the weather and climate space. The National Ozone Unit (NOU) is a unit of the Climate Change and Ozone Division of LMS. The NOU is responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the MP as well as serving as the liaison between the Government of Lesotho and the Multilateral Fund. The NOU is also responsible for training of both RAC technicians and other stakeholders. The key stakeholders in HPMP and the HFC phase down are government ministries and their implementing departments/units, the importers, wholesalers and distributors, RAC sector and owners of appliances.

The NOU and the designated Customs Officer are the main authority on all matters regarding importation of ODS, ODS alternatives, and ODS goods. The NOU deals with enforcement officers (police and customs officials) directly on capacity building, training and awareness matters. To date, various trainings, on priority areas such as the international response to ozone layer depletion, national intervention mechanisms and obligations, the national licensing regime, identification of ODS and ODS-based products, role of various stakeholders, and illegal trade in ODS have been conducted. In addition, capacity building efforts have focused on provision of ODS identifiers for customs officials at 10 transit points of the country.