Countries agree to phase down harmful HFCs used in ACs

India and 196 other countries on Saturday have agreed in a meeting at Kigali (Rwanda) to curb the use of climate-warming gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) through a legally-binding amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the treaty that saved the ozone layer.

Welcoming the Kigali Agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “Agreement will lead to a reduction of 0.5 degree in global temp by the end of the century and enable us to achieve the goals set in Paris. The flexibility and cooperation shown by India as well as other countries has created this fair, equitable and ambitious HFC agreement. This will also provide a mechanism for countries like India to access and develop technologies that leave a low carbon footprint.”

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is legally binding and will come into force from January 1, 2019. The Agreement upholds the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR & RC). It recognises the development imperatives of high-growth economies like India, and provides a realistic and viable roadmap for the implementation of a phase-out schedule for high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs, which are used in air-conditioners (ACs) and refrigerators. 

“We were flexible, accommodative and ambitious. The world is one family and as a responsible member of the global family, we played our part to support and nurture this agreement,” commented Anil Dave, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Bringing HFCs under the Montreal Protocol will force countries to start replacing these dangerous chemicals with a new generation of climate-friendly and energy-efficient alternatives. 

“This is a major breakthrough: The world has come together to curb climate-wrecking super-pollutant HFCs. This is the biggest step we can take in the year after the Paris agreement, and is equal to stopping the entire world’s fossil-fuel CO2 emissions for more than two years,” said David Doniger, program director (climate and clean air) of the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Anjali Jaiswal, director of the NRDC India program, added, “The Kigali amendment shows that nations can work together to curb climate change, and that people across the globe can have affordable, climate-friendly air conditioning. Achieving this amendment required leadership and flexibility from both developed and developing economies. It will help protect communities and families already suffering from worsening drought, stronger storms and extreme heat.”

The HFC agreement establishes timetables for all developed and developing countries to freeze and then reduce their production and use of HFCs, chemicals used in air conditioning, refrigeration, insulating foams, and other applications. HFCs are the fastest growing climate pollutants, and pack hundreds to thousands of times the climate-warming punch of carbon dioxide, pound for pound. 

Developed countries agreed to make their first HFCs cuts by 2019; in fact, the US and European Union have already started. They will also take the lead in bringing climate-friendly, energy-efficient alternatives to market. China, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, and more than 100 other developing countries committed to freeze their HFC production and use by 2024, and reduce in subsequent steps. India, Gulf States, and Pakistan agreed to make HFC reductions on a slower track, starting with a freeze in 2028 (three years earlier than India had originally proposed). Developed nations committed to provide additional funds through the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund.

“The hallmark of the Montreal Protocol is ‘start and strengthen’. We achieved the full phase-out of CFCs – the chemicals that destroyed the ozone layer – in several steps. Today countries took the first and most important step to curb HFCs under the Montreal Protocol, and everyone expects them to strengthen and accelerate the phase-down in years to come,” stated Doniger.