Indeed, as pressure mounts on governments around the world to talk less and do more about climate change, the Kigali Amendment is a commendable initiative that gives momentum to a number of new global climate agreements, including the Paris Agreement, which will officially enter into force next month on 4 November 2016. – The Kigali agreement, like F-Gas II initiated by the European Union, provides for the phasing out of HFCs on the basis of CO2 equivalence. However, ratification is only the first step: drastically reducing HFC emissions also requires strict enforcement to achieve the phase-down targets. The adoption of the Kigali Amendment, like most of the provisions of the Montreal Protocol, was accompanied by a black market for the controlled substance, in this case HFCs. [18] In order to effectively curb the illegal trade in HFCs, U.S. law enforcement agencies must be vigilant against the smuggling of HFCs to and from the United States and punish them severely. (iii) India has successfully achieved the phase-out targets for all ozone-depleting substances set out in the list to the Montreal Protocol [11] See Kigali Amendment (2016): Amendment to the Montreal Protocol adopted by the twenty-eighth session of the Parties (Kigali, 10-15 October 2016) ozone.unep.org/treaties/montreal-protocol/amendments/kigali-amendment-2016-amendment-montreal-protocol-agreed [perma.cc/XL54-RN9B]. Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol establishes separate standards for developing and non-developing countries. [9] Whether or not a country was classified as a developing country depended on the individual economic conditions at the time of the agreement or on a specific request. [10] As the Protocol was created in the 1980s and the economic situation of countries has changed, the Kigali Amendment created three updated groups for compliance with the additional conditions. [11] The Kigali Amendment, signed in the Rwandan capital in 2016, sets targets for each country to phase out climate-damaging HFCs, synthetic chemicals used in refrigerators, foam insulation and more.
In the 1920s, it was found that cooling lubricants and refrigerators are highly toxic and cause serious health complications to humans. CFCs were the solution to this problem, but decades later, cfCs were also found to be the cause of a hole in the stratosphere – commonly known as a hole in the ozone layer. The ozone layer is the natural shield against the sun`s harmful ultraviolet rays, which can lead to serious health risks such as skin cancer. This damage to the ozone layer has prompted governments to consider an environmental agreement to regulate the production and use of ozone-depleting pollutants. The regulation brings the United States into line with an international climate agreement — known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol — that China, the world`s largest producer of HFCs, began implementing earlier this month. There is also a strong topic of conversation for President Biden for the United Nations-led climate talks scheduled for November in Glasgow. The agreement is expected to avoid global warming of up to 0.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 if all countries sign. Although Louisville is located in a state dominated by burning coal for electricity, with deep cultural and economic roots in coal mining, the city`s mayor, Greg Fischer, declared a climate emergency during a youth climate strike in 2019 and is among nearly 500 mayors who have pledged to work toward the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to progressively reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It is a legally binding agreement that aims to create rights and obligations under international law. [1] The new agreement contains specific targets and timetables to replace HFCs with greener alternatives, provisions to ban or restrict countries that have ratified the Protocol or its amendments to trade in controlled substances with states that have not yet ratified it, and an agreement between rich countries to finance the transition of poor countries to other safer products.
African countries, in particular, have chosen to extract chemicals faster than necessary, underscoring the serious threats the region poses to climate change. The need for the amendment arose from the 1987 Montreal Protocol Process, which controls ozone-depleting substances. With the use of HFCs as an alternative to ozone-depleting substances in refrigeration equipment, their role in warming the atmosphere has become a bigger problem. In 2016, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted the HFCs Agreement at the 28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 28) in Kigali, Rwanda. Governments agreed that it would enter into force on 1 January 2019, provided that at least 20 Parties to the Montreal Protocol have ratified it. On 17 November 2017, Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago deposited their instruments of ratification, bringing the number of Parties above the required threshold. The Montreal Protocol was originally created to preserve and restore the ozone layer, and it worked. [2] The Protocol was an agreement between the participating countries for the phase-out of certain ozone-depleting gases. HFCs have been used to replace the substances banned in this agreement because they have no effect on ozone. However, HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change[3], so this amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that countries promise to phase out.
As a result of this change, all countries will gradually reduce HFCs by more than 80% over the next 30 years and replace them with more environmentally friendly alternatives. A certain group of developed countries will begin to disappear gradually in 2019. Several developing countries will freeze HFC consumption in 2024, followed by other countries in 2028. The phase-down schedule is described in detail here. The amendment also includes agreements on HFC destruction technologies, data reporting requirements and provisions for capacity building in developing countries. [UNEP press release] [14] Carper, Barrasso and Kennedy announce agreement to amend HFCs to the Energy Act, U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (Sept. 10, 2020), www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2020/9/carper-barrasso-and-kennedy-announce-agreement-on-hfcs-amendment-to-energy-bill [perma.cc/B2MA-Y7UB]. 114. Countries have ratified the Kigali Amendment. This agreement will reinforce the Paris Agreement`s goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C to 2°C by 2100.
The Montreal Protocol was negotiated in the 1980s to fill the hole in the ozone layer in the atmosphere by phasing out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals. The Kigali Amendment was included in the protocol in 2016 to gradually reduce the production and use of HFCs to combat climate change. The U.S. has not ratified the Kigali Amendment, but last week`s HFC regulations bring the U.S. into line with the agreement. All countries have committed to achieving legally binding targets that require a gradual reduction in the consumption and production of HFCs, starting in 2019 for developed countries and 2024 for developing countries. HFC reductions are measured based on overall CO2 impacts, as HFCs have very different global warming potentials (GWPs). In the absence of action by President Trump, whose signature is required to ratify the Kigali Amendment, the Senate is pushing for legislation that would effectively transpose the unratified Kigali Amendment into U.S. law. [14] On September 10, 2020, “U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), the lead Democrat on the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (EPW), as well as President John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) announced a bipartisan agreement on changes to a change from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to S. 2657, American Energy Innovation Act,” which reflects the standards for the phase-out of HFCs set out in the Kigali Amendment.
[15] In particular, the revised amendment “will approve for the first time a 15-year reduction in HFCs at the national level,” obliging the EPA to make an 85% phase-out reduction in HFC production and consumption, so that by 2036 they will reach about 15% of their average annual level from 2011 to 2013. [16] In addition, the revised amendment is intended to ensure an adequate supply of HFCs for uses without alternative chemicals. maintain national rules for such uses for at least five years; prevent the accelerated phase-out of technological capabilities; and maintaining the gradual degradation of HFCs to reduce global warming and create 150,000 United States. Jobs in alternative production of HFCs. [17] The bipartisan agreement on the revised amendment brings Congress closer to establishing the legal framework for a nationwide phase-out of HFCs in accordance with international standards. The Chemours facility is located in a complex of chemical plants known as Rubbertown, where battles have been fought against environmental justice over toxic air pollution since the 1990s. Gadson said she would also be concerned if the company moved the HFC destruction process to another location where there might be other environmental justice concerns. The first group, which includes the “old” industrialized countries, has committed to reducing the use of HFCs by 45% by 2024 and by 85% by 2036, compared to their use between 2011 and 2013.
A second group, which includes China and Brazil, has pledged to reduce its consumption by 80% by 2045. Finally, this deadline will be extended until 2047 for other countries, including India and a number of countries in the Middle East[12], which are major consumers of air conditioners. .