Christian Aid, an NGO,
has called on countries to ambitiously set up a date to stop using climate pollutants, such as hydrofluocarbons (HFCs), which are depleting the ozone layer. The recommendation is part of the report at the ongoing 28th Meeting of Parties (MOP-28) to the Montreal Protocol in Kigali. The pollutants include man-made chemicals used in fridges and air conditioners.
In the report, Ms Gaby Drinkwater, a Senior Policy Officer for Christian Aid, said it was in everyone’s interest to phase out HFCs as soon as possible. According to her, HFCs are man-made chemical gases used mainly in refrigerators, air conditioners and created to replace CFCs in 1990.
“However, science has found out that these gases are thousands times more lethal to the climate than Carbon Dioxide (CO) as a greenhouse gas and their use is increasing at 10 to 15 per cent a year.” She said greenhouse gases were important compounds that could trap heat in the atmosphere, hence, giving the earth warmth that sustained life.
She said overproduction of these gases had led to over warming of the earth surface as well as serious changes in climatic conditions, a condition that was already having devastating impacts on livelihoods. “HFCs were created to replace HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), which in turn replaced CFCs, after it was discovered that the gases were putting a hole in the ozone layer.
“But we didn’t realise that in HFCs we had created another thing that is even more devastating than Carbon dioxide.” Drinkwater said the good news was that benign replacements were already being created, which were also more energy efficient.
“We now need to start using them in conjunction with controlling the destruction of existing HFCs in a safe way”. She said with the growing population and the changing climatic conditions, people in developing countries sought more air conditioners and refrigerators. Drinkwater said such development had led to heavy expansion of HFCs, adding that the trend could deal a significant blow to the ambition of the Paris Agreement.
“The ongoing negotiations in Kigali are focusing on agreeing on ambitious and equitable HFC amendment proposal, including the date when the HFCs must be phased out.
“Most of the developed countries are pushing for a date closer to 2031 while a majority of the developing countries want a much more ambitious timeline in the early 2020s.
”The good news is that richer countries have already provided funds to help developing countries make the transition and leap-frog to the safer alternatives.”
Drinkwater said countries had nothing to fear from a rapid phase down and should cut their energy use, reduce climate impact and ensure they delivered on their Paris Agreement pledges. “The combination of removing HFCs and the energy efficiency savings of new technology could see global temperatures reduced by a full degree centigrade by the end of the century,” she said.
Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, Ms Tina Birmpili, said that projected increases in demand for cooling meant that by mid-century, more energy would be used on cooling than on heating.
She said with combined efforts to improve energy efficiency, countries could mitigate the effects of climate change.
first ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C.
The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.