By Jeffrey Ho '20
On October 15, 2016, climate talks in Kigali, Rwanda ended with the ambitious goal of eliminating all HFCs. The binding agreement is an amendment to the Montreal protocol of 1987, the initial climate change agreement. Depending on economic growth and strength, all 170 nations involved in the agreement will phase out all production of HFCs within the next few decades, eventually removing the equivalent of 90 billion tons of carbon dioxide.HFCs, or hydrofluorocarbons, are chemicals used in refrigerants that are also greenhouse gases. HFCs have 1000x the strength of carbon dioxide in retaining heat in the atmosphere. Although the lethality of HFCs have been recognized since the late 1980s, nothing has been done on an international level until now. However, the EU began phasing out the production of HFCs and banned them in cars, and the US and China reached a separate agreement in early 2013 that established the reduction of HFCs in both nations.According to the agreement, nations will be split among three tracks. The wealthiest nations will phase out all HFC production by 2018. Most other nations will phase out all HFC production by 2024, including nations such as China, Brazil, and the African bloc. The last few nations will phase out all production by 2028. These nations include India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other developing nations in hot climates that depend on HFC refrigeration, and do not have the funds to develop new technologies to replace HFC refrigeration. The hope is that by 2028, these nations will be able to replace HFC with different chemicals.Even though HFCs compose a small percentage of all greenhouse gases, it’s strength is considerable. John Kerry called this agreement the “biggest step we can take against climate change”, and Durwood Zaelke, the President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, said it was “much, much stronger than Paris”, the climate agreement reached last year. Since the agreement is binding, repercussions can occur if it is not followed, unlike the Paris agreement, which is a loose, broad structure. With the passage of this agreement, the hope is that similar agreements can be passed, targeting specific goals with tangible numbers and set dates.Sources:¨https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/15/kigali-deal-hfcs-climate-change¨http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/world/africa/kigali-deal-hfc-air-conditioners.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience¨http://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-climatechange-idUSKBN12E0OT