Editorial by Didier Coulomb

A new year has begun: for all refrigeration stakeholders and the IIR, it will certainly be focused on new efforts in terms of environmental protection. In December 2005, I attended the 11th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Montreal, which also marked the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, and also attended the 17th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP-17), held in Dakar, Senegal. Following these events, I am more than ever convinced that in all countries we must anticipate future technological changes in order to address the replacement of certain refrigerants and meet the challenge of energy efficiency, and that we must implement these changes fast. In 2006, the IIR intends to launch several specific actions within this context: it will publish a Guide to Energy Saving, an updated version of Ammonia as a Refrigerant, and a bibliography of publications on CO2; another highlight in 2006 will be the 7th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Working Fluids. These environmental concerns must also be a focus of all our other actions. We must see the necessary technological changes as providing an opportunity to highlight the importance and value of our professions. Happy New Year to you all. Didier Coulomb Director of the IIR