UNEP award for 'Directorate of revenue Intelligence'

UNEP has honoured the DRI (Directorate of revenue Intelligence) with 'ECA Ozone Protection Award for Customs & Enforcement Officers'. It has been recognized for helping the enviornment by seizing a record amount of (over 2.4 lakh kg) ozone-depleting restricted refrigeration gas ‘R-22’.
More
- DRI is the nation's elite intelligence agency handling violation of excise and customs laws.
- The gas, used primarily as refrigerant for Air Conditioners, is banned in India under the Montreal Protocol.
- The prestigious award, in its 3rd edition, also recognizes 4 other entities.
What is R-22 ?
- Mainly used as a propellant and refrigerant this colorless gas is a Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC).
- Its not only harmful for Ozone layer but also contribute to global warming.
- Developing countries like India and China have been becoming its greatest consumers with the exponential growth in sales of ACs.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Enviornmental arm of UN that seek to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment.
How to stop use (and thus rampant smuggling)
- We need to persuade users to shift to green alternative technologies for refrigerants.
- Strict crackdown by the law enforcement agencies.
Montreal Protocol
- It seeks to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of many substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
- It was signed in the year 1987 in canadian city of Montreal.
- The protocol has, to a certain extent, reversed the ozone layer depletion.
- India is a signatory to this protocol.