Members of the organizing committee applaud the adoption of the Kigali Amendment, October 15, 2016. Cyril Ndegeya/AFP via Getty Images They may not be as loud as greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide or methane, but hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have long been the cause of a similar climate catastrophe. HFCs are man-made chemicals commonly used in air conditioners, refrigerators, insulation foams, and other applications. But when they get into the air, they pack hundreds or even thousands of times more of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Climate scientists started sounding the alarm about HFCs more than a decade ago, warning that if allowed to continue to rise, these pollutants could raise global temperatures by as much as half a degree Celsius by 2100. Remarkably, in a rare show of global coordination for climate action, world leaders listened to them and agreed to phase them down. In October of this year, the US formally ratified the Kigali Amendment, an international climate treaty that commits 145 participating countries to reduce their total HFC production by 80 to 85 percent by the end of the 2040s. The treaty amends the famous Montreal Protocol, which phases out chlorofluorocarbons (HFC precursors) and is credited with saving the once deteriorating ozone layer. The Global Compact — backed by environmental and industry groups as well as legislators on both sides of the aisle — is the culmination of more than a decade of diplomacy, policymaking and advocacy. It has been shaped at every stage by the leadership and expertise of the NRDC. The Success of the Montreal Protocol Before climate change dominated the environmental news, another atmospheric catastrophe appeared in the skies: the depletion of the ozone layer. In 1974, scientists to suffered the shocking discovery that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — used in everything from aerosol sprays to air conditioners — reacted with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, breaking down ozone into the stratosphere. (Ozone is a thin shield that prevents much of the UV radiation from reaching the earth’s surface.) While this news led to significant changes – sales of aerosols fell and some companies quickly redesigned products – the chemical industry stood firm, denying science and attacking chemists who raised red flags. The NRDC was a leading environmental militant group. We continued to bring research to lawmakers and the public while pushing for a ban on ozone-depleting chemicals both domestically and internationally. When action stalled under the Reagan administration, NRDC lawyers sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force it to act on its findings that CFCs threatened public health. Ozone depletion projections in the absence of NASA’s Montreal Protocol It worked: in 1987, countries united and signed the Montreal Protocol, which began phasing out the production of CFCs and replacing them with readily available, safer alternatives. By repairing the ozone layer and sparing the planet with extra UV radiation, the Montreal Protocol saves millions of lives and prevents hundreds of millions of cases of skin cancer in the United States alone. Agricultural crops, forests and creatures large and small were also spared. Now every country is a party to the protocol, making it “the world’s most successful environmental treaty,” says the NRDC’s chief global warming lawyer, David Doniger, who has He joined the NRDC in 1978 and was instrumental in shaping the treaty. The ozone layer is expected to fully recover by the second half of this century. Planet-warming replacements for CFCs Despite the success of the Montreal Protocol, HFCs that have replaced ozone-depleting CFCs in air conditioners and refrigerators have been excellent. HFCs do not damage the ozone layer and are less greenhouse gas than CFCs, but still contribute to climate change. “A lot of people who tell this story say, ‘Oh, we traded one problem for another,’ but we actually went in the right direction in both ozone and climate problems,” says Doniger. “Aside from saving the ozone layer, eliminating CFCs remains the single biggest step countries have taken to date to slow climate change.” However, as global production of HFCs increased, it became clear that more climate-friendly alternatives had to be found. NRDC experts were among the first to push for the next phase of progress. The road to the Kigali Amendment Due to their impact on climate change, an attempt has been made to address HFCs by including them in early climate agreements. However, making progress through these treaties proved difficult as any greater pressure for climate action was staunchly opposed by fossil fuel interests. In addition, Doniger says that during the climate talks, “CO2 sucked all the oxygen out of the room,” making HFCs harder to spot. So the strategy has changed. In 2008, Doniger proposed to shift responsibility for HFCs from the climate treaties to the Montreal Protocol and to phase out global production of HFCs in the same way we dealt with CFCs. Countries have picked up on the idea by proposing withdrawal plans and HFCs in 2009: One proposal came from the island country group and the other from Canada, Mexico and the United States. The debate over them made slow but steady progress in the years that followed. At the time, the NRDC was still the leading environmental group pushing these talks forward. Alex Hillbrand, engineer and HFC expert, joined NRDC in 2015, adding more technical expertise to the team. He soon developed a computer tool that compared the environmental benefits of different recall strategies and schedules. He then made it available to all countries. The NRDC team in India also joined other NRDC colleagues in the US-India Task Force. They have worked closely with Indian officials and industry to help address their specific concerns and gain support for what will become the Kigali Amendment. “Given India’s anticipated exponential growth in cooling demand, their participation was critical,” says Prima Madan, senior attorney on the NRDC India team. NRDC’s Alex Hillbrand celebrates with fellow NRDC colleagues (left to right) David Doniger, Anjali Jaiswal, Bhaskar Deol and Nehmat Kaur after the adoption of the Kigali NRDC Amendment These efforts have paid off. On October 15, 2016, in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, over 100 countries agreed to adopt the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The product of nearly a decade of diplomacy and negotiation, it would reduce global HFC levels by 80-85 percent by 2047, with developed countries taking the lead. The result is the equivalent of eliminating heat pollution worldwide for two years. The NRDC team was on site all night to push for the final adoption of the amendment and celebrate in the early hours of the morning. Dozens of countries quickly joined rushed to ratify the new climate agreement. However, in the United States, Donald Trump was elected president just two months after adopting Kigali. He did not send the deal to the Senate for approval. Change in US strategy After the United States ratified the Kigali Amendment, the NRDC regrouped. Even before Kigali signed the agreement, the NRDC had been working to adopt the national HFC regulations under the Clean Aviation Act. “The US had to start working on HFCs to gain credibility around the world with Kigali,” says Hillbrand. These rules were adopted before the Trump administration took office, but those efforts ran into a second hurdle in 2017 when a federal court ruled that the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the necessary powers to regulate HFCs. Commercial ref gerator in New York, one of nine states to finalize HFC legislation and regulations with support from the NRDC and the U.S. Climate Alliance Richard B. Levine/Alamy So the NRDC turned to the states. In 2018, we launched a campaign with the newest policy advocate of the HFC Clean Energy Program team, Christina Theodoridi, at the helm. Theodoridi and her colleagues pushed for HFC limits at the state level, which a federal court blocked the adoption of the EPA at the federal level. In some cases, this resulted in new regulations within existing laws, in others it required the adoption of new laws. “There was a sense of momentum,” says Theodoridi. “The states were eager to act at a time when the federal government was lagging behind.” While this was great news for the climate and public health, having different state regulations on HFCs wasn’t ideal for chemical companies and equipment manufacturers that preferred regulatory consistency. “It was for n their huge headache,” says Doniger. “The industry started to think they would be much better off with federal legislation.” Impetus from an unexpected alliance In addition to satisfying the industry’s desire for more consistent regulation, a nationwide phase-out of HFCs also fits into its business agenda. The same companies that produce and use HFCs have already developed (and patented) more climate-friendly alternatives, including hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), which do not persist as long in the atmosphere and have less heat retention capacity. “They were preparing to implement Kigali ahead of the 2016 elections,” says Doniger, “and decided to stay the course.” Unlike the fossil fuel industry, which is fiercely fighting against climate regulations, chemical and equipment manufacturers were more willing to expand as they saw a financial path forward in the production of alternative refrigerants. EPA Admin Michael Regan signs fi file final HFC phase-down rule, Sep 23, 2021 Michael Regan, US EPA via Twitter So NRDC worked with them to draft federal HFC legislation called the US Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM), which was proposed in 2020 and co-sponsored by senators and representatives of both parties. With the support of a strange coalition of bedfellows, the AIM Act proved politically viable. High-profile industry groups including the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Chemistry Council joined the NRDC in pushing the bill, which was passed on a bipartisan basis in late 2020. The law mandates a phase-down in the US in line with Kigali, reducing climate pollution over the course of 15 years as much as removing one in seven from the roads alone shit. His passage marked the biggest victory for climate during the Trump administration. Ratification in Kigali – and cooling in a warmer world At the beginning of 2021, the political climate has changed again. With the Biden administration taking office, climate was back on the agenda. The NRDC led regulatory efforts to implement the new AIM Act. We pushed the EPA to: supplement the HFC phase-out with regulations prohibiting the use of HFCs in new products where safer alternatives were already available; stop avoidable leakage of HFCs into the atmosphere; and recover and reuse existing HFCs instead of producing new ones. Then, in October 2022, after a six-year delay, the US Senate voted 69-27 to finally ratify the Kigali Amendment. In a sight rarely seen in Washington, industry and environmental groups as well as lawmakers on both sides of the altar celebrated a monumental climate victory. The US now joins 145 countries as parties to the global HFC phase-down. This is particularly positive news as the US, China and India are the top three producers and consumers of HFCs. In the case of India, the NRDC India team and its partners played a special role in shaping the try country. The NRDC’s hard-won HFC victories, both nationally and globally, have come just in time. It is estimated that by 2050 the world will need 4.5 billion air conditioners to stay cool – four times more than today – all of which will rely on gaseous refrigerants. This means that the urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of air conditioners is urgent and a measure. Climate advocates will also continue to push for complementary solutions such as such as installing simple ‘cool roofs’ in city centers and implementing regional heat action plans to help residents feel the effects of increasingly common heatwaves. “We live in a warming world – and we live in a world where most of the Global South and the tropics have too little access to refrigeration for health and economic prosperity,” says Hillbrand. “Universal access to refrigeration remains a huge development need.” But if the fight to eliminate HFCs teaches anything, it is that global climate coordination is possible. This NRDC.org story is available for online republishment by news media or non-profit organizations under the following conditions: Author(s) must be credited by line; you must clearly state that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and provide a link to the original; the story cannot be edited (apart from simple things like elements of time and place, style and grammar); you may not resell the story in any form or grant re-publishing rights to other outlets; you can’t republish our content in bulk or automatically – you must select stories individually; you may not republish photos or graphics on our site without express permission; you should leave us a message to let us know when you have used one of our stories.
Members of the organizing committee applaud the adoption of the Kigali Amendment, October 15, 2016.
Cyril Ndegeya/AFP via Getty Images
They may not be as loud as greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide or methane, but hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have long spelled a similar catastrophe for the climate.
HFCs are man-made chemicals that are commonly used in air conditioners, refrigerators, insulation foams, and other applications. But when they get into the air, they pack hundreds or even thousands of times more heat than carbon dioxide.
Climate scientists began sounding the alarm about HFCs more than a decade ago, warning that if allowed to continue to rise, these pollutants could raise global temperatures by up to half a degree Celsius by 2100.
Remarkably, in a rare show of global coordination for climate action, world leaders have listened and agreed to a gradual reduction. In October of this year, the United States formally ratified the Kigali Amendment, an international climate treaty that commits 145 participating countries to reduce their total HFC production by 80 to 85 percent by the end of the 2040s. The treaty amends the famous Montreal Protocol, which phases out chlorofluorocarbons (HFC precursors) and is credited with saving the once deteriorating ozone layer.
The Global Compact – backed by environmental and industry organizations as well as lawmakers on both sides – is the culmination of more than a decade of diplomacy, policy making and advocacy. It has been shaped at every stage by the leadership and expertise of the NRDC.
The success of the Montreal Protocol
Before climate change dominated the environmental news, another atmospheric catastrophe loomed in the sky – the depletion of the ozone layer. To see also : Real Estate Complies With SEC Climate Disclosure Proposal With Strong Criticism.
In 1974, scientists made the shocking discovery that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – used in everything from aerosol sprays to air conditioners – react with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, breaking down the ozone layer in the stratosphere. (Ozone is a thin shield that prevents much of the UV radiation from reaching the earth’s surface.) While this news led to significant changes – sales of aerosols fell and some companies quickly redesigned products – the chemical industry stood firm, denying science and attacking chemists who had raised red flags.
The NRDC was a leading environmental militant group. We continued to bring research to lawmakers and the public while pushing for a ban on ozone-depleting chemicals, both at home and abroad. When action stalled under the Reagan administration, NRDC lawyers sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force it to act on its findings that CFCs threatened public health.
Ozone depletion projections in the absence of signing the Montreal Protocol
It worked: in 1987, countries united and signed the Montreal Protocol, which began phasing out the production of CFCs from the market and replacing them with readily available, safer alternatives. By repairing the ozone layer and sparing the planet with extra UV radiation, the Montreal Protocol saves millions of lives and prevents hundreds of millions of cases of skin cancer in the United States alone. Agricultural crops, forests, and creatures large and small were also spared. Now every country is a party to the protocol, making it “the world’s most successful environmental treaty,” says NRDC’s chief global warming lawyer, David Doniger, who joined the NRDC in 1978 and was instrumental in shaping the treaty. The ozone layer is expected to fully recover by the second half of this century.
The planet-warming replacements for CFCs
Despite the success of the Montreal Protocol, the HFCs that have replaced ozone-depleting CFCs in air conditioners and refrigerators have not been perfect. To see also : Policy Report: People asked for time and now they’re getting time because what they really wanted was time. HFCs do not damage the ozone layer and are less potent greenhouse gases than CFCs, but they still contribute to climate change.
“A lot of people who tell this story say, ‘Oh, we’ve traded one problem for another,’ but we’ve actually gone in the right direction with both the ozone and climate problems,” says Doniger. “Aside from saving the ozone layer, eliminating CFCs remains the single largest step countries have taken to date to slow climate change.”
However, as global production of HFCs increased, it became clear that more climate-friendly alternatives had to be found. NRDC experts were among the first to push for the next phase of progress.
The road to the Kigali Amendment
Due to their impact on climate change, an attempt has been made to address HFCs by including them in early climate agreements. However, making progress through these treaties proved difficult as any greater pressure for climate action was staunchly opposed by fossil fuel interests. See the article : US Representative Kerry urged China to return to negotiations to avoid a climate crisis. In addition, Doniger says that during the climate talks, “CO2 sucked all the oxygen out of the room,” making HFCs harder to spot.
So the strategy changed. In 2008, Doniger proposed to shift responsibility for HFCs from the climate treaties to the Montreal Protocol and to phase out global production of HFCs in the same way we dealt with CFCs. Countries took up the idea by proposing plans to phase out HFCs in 2009: One proposal came from the island nation group, and the other from Canada, Mexico and the United States. The debate over them made slow but steady progress in the years that followed.
At the time, the NRDC was still the leading environmental group pushing these talks forward. Alex Hillbrand, engineer and HFC expert, joined NRDC in 2015, adding more technical expertise to the team. He soon developed a computer tool that compared the environmental benefits of different recall strategies and time frames. Then he made it available to all countries. The NRDC team in India also joined other NRDC colleagues in the US-India Task Force. They worked closely with Indian officials and industry to help address their specific concerns and garner support for what was to become the Kigali Amendment. “Given India’s expected exponential growth in cooling demand, their participation was critical,” says Prima Madan, senior attorney on the NRDC India team.
NRDC’s Alex Hillbrand celebrates with fellow NRDC colleagues (left to right) David Doniger, Anjali Jaiswal, Bhaskar Deol and Nehmat Kaur after the adoption of the Kigali Amendment
These efforts have paid off. On October 15, 2016, in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, over 100 countries agreed to adopt the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The product of nearly a decade of diplomacy and negotiation, it would reduce global HFC levels by 80-85 percent by 2047, with developed countries taking the lead. The result is the equivalent of eliminating heat pollution worldwide for two years. The NRDC team was on site all night to push for the final adoption of the amendment and celebrate in the early hours of the morning.
Dozens of countries moved quickly to ratify the new climate agreement. However, in the United States, Donald Trump was elected president just two months after adopting Kigali. He did not send the deal to the Senate for approval.
The U.S. strategy shifts
After the United States ratified the Kigali Amendment, which became a bull’s-eye, the NRDC regrouped.
Even before Kigali signed the agreement, the NRDC had been working to adopt national HFC legislation under the Clean Air Act. “The US had to start working on HFCs to gain credibility around the world with Kigali,” says Hillbrand. These rules were adopted before the Trump administration took office, but those efforts ran into a second hurdle in 2017 when a federal court ruled that the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the necessary powers to regulate HFCs.
A commercial refrigerator in New York City, one of nine states to finalize HFC legislation and regulations with the support of the NRDC and the U.S. Climate Alliance
So the NRDC turned to the states. In 2018, we launched a campaign with the newest policy advocate of the HFC Clean Energy Program team, Christina Theodoridi, at the helm. Theodoridi and her colleagues pushed for HFC limits at the state level, which a federal court blocked the adoption of the EPA at the federal level. In some cases, this resulted in new regulations within existing laws, in others it required the adoption of new laws. “There was a sense of momentum,” says Theodoridi. “The states were eager to act at a time when the federal government was lagging behind.”
While this was great news for the climate and public health, having different national HFC regulations was not ideal for chemical companies and equipment manufacturers who preferred regulatory consistency. “It was a huge headache for them,” says Doniger. “The industry began to think that they would be much better off with federal legislation.”
Momentum from an unexpected alliance
In addition to meeting the industry’s need for more consistent regulation, a nationwide HFC phase-out also fits in with its business plans. The same companies that produce and use HFCs have already developed (and patented) more climate-friendly alternatives, including hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), which do not persist as long in the atmosphere and have less heat retention capacity. “They were preparing to implement Kigali ahead of the 2016 elections,” says Doniger, “and decided to stay the course.” Unlike the fossil fuel industry, which is fiercely fighting against climate regulations, chemical and equipment manufacturers were more willing to expand as they saw a financial path forward in the production of alternative refrigerants.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan Signs Final HFC Phase-down Rule, September 23, 2021
Michael Regan, US EPA via Twitter
Therefore, the NRDC worked with them to draft federal HFC legislation, called the U.S. Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM), which was proposed in 2020 and co-sponsored by senators and bipartisan representatives. With the support of a strange coalition of bedfellows, the AIM Act proved politically viable. High-profile industry groups including the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Chemistry Council joined the NRDC in pushing the bill, which was passed on a bipartisan basis in late 2020. The law mandates a phase-down in the US in line with Kigali, reducing climate pollution over the course of 15 years as much as taking one in seven cars off the road. His passage marked the biggest win for climate during the Trump administration.
Kigali ratification—and cooling in a warmer world
In early 2021, the political climate changed again. With the Biden administration taking office, the climate has returned to normal.
The NRDC led the regulatory work to implement the new AIM Act. We pushed the EPA to: supplement the HFC phase-out with regulations prohibiting the use of HFCs in new products where safer alternatives were already available; stop avoidable leakage of HFCs into the atmosphere; and recover and reuse existing HFCs instead of producing new ones.
Then, in October 2022, after a six-year delay, the US Senate voted 69-27 to finally ratify the Kigali Amendment. In a sight rarely seen in Washington, industry and environmental groups, as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, celebrated a monumental climate victory.
The US now joins 145 countries as parties to the global HFC phase-down. This is particularly positive news as the US, China and India are the top three producers and consumers of HFCs. In the case of India, the NRDC India team and its partners have played a special role in shaping the country’s strong commitments.
The NRDC’s hard-fought HFC victories, both domestically and globally, have come just in time. It is estimated that by 2050 the world will need 4.5 billion air conditioners to keep it cool – four times more than we currently have – all of which will rely on refrigerant gases.
This means that the urgent need to improve the energy efficiency of air conditioners is paramount. Climate advocates will also continue to push for complementary solutions, such as installing simple “cool roofs” in city centers and implementing regional heat action plans to help residents feel the effects of increasingly common heatwaves. “We live in a warming world – and we live in a world where most of the Global South and the tropics have too little access to refrigeration for health and economic prosperity,” says Hillbrand. “Universal access to refrigeration remains a huge development need.” But if the fight to eliminate HFCs teaches anything, it is that global climate coordination is possible.
This NRDC.org story is available for online republishment by news media or non-profit organizations under the following conditions: The author(s) must have the author’s name; you must clearly state that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and provide a link to the original; the story cannot be edited (apart from simple things like elements of time and place, style and grammar); you may not resell the story in any form or grant re-publishing rights to other outlets; you can’t republish our content in bulk or automatically – you must select stories individually; you may not republish photos or graphics on our site without express permission; you should leave us a message to let us know when you have used one of our stories.
Which country recently voted to ratify the Kigali Amendment?
US lawmakers recently voted to ratify the Kigali Amendment, marking the first time in 30 years that the US will adopt an international climate treaty.
.
Who voted against the Kigali Amendment?
Today, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (Southern California) issued the following statement after voting against the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the United Nations Montreal Protocol to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs):
