Working together with the Ozone Secretariat of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Montreal Protocol's Halons Technical Options Committee (HTOC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has amended standards related to aircraft operations and airworthiness to phase out halon-emitting fire extinguishers on board.
Halons are among the most potent destroyers of the stratospheric ozone layer and are also potent greenhouse gases (GHGs).
16 September 2011: The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), at the working group meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, announced that it has amended standards related to aircraft operations and airworthiness to phase out halon-emitting fire extinguishers on board.
ICAO has been working with the Ozone Secretariat of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Montreal Protocol’s Halons Technical Options Committee (HTOC) since 2003 on a solution to the halon issue, the use of which has been mandated up to now due to their extreme effectiveness in fighting fires. Halons are among the most potent destroyers of the stratospheric ozone layer and are also potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). ICAO will continue to monitor the research and development of halon alternatives and will follow up on research into a viable halon alternative for cargo area fire extinguishing systems. [UNEP Press Release]