Kigali Amendment Explained

Kigali Amendment
Type:Environmental protection agreement
Date Signed:[1]
Context:Montreal Protocol (1985)
Long Name:Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol
Parties:160

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It is a legally binding agreement designed to create rights and obligations in international law.[2]

The Montreal Protocol was originally created to preserve and restore the ozone layer; participating countries agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), gases that had been causing ozone depletion. HFCs do not contain chlorine, so they do not cause ozone depletion, and therefore have been replacing CFCs under the Protocol.[3] However, HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change,[4] so this amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that countries promise to phase down.[5]

As of July 1, 2024, 160 states[6] and the European Union[7] have ratified the Kigali Amendment.

Background

Many industrial products, including refrigerants[8] and other cooling services, use HFCs.[9]

Originally, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used in these applications, but the deleterious effect of these gases on the ozone layer was revealed in 1974 by Paul J. Crutzen, Mario Molina, and F. Sherwood Rowland.[10] The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 by the 20 major CFC producers and came into effect in 1989; since 1987, all 197 member states of the United Nations, among others, have ratified the Protocol. HFCs have since largely replaced CFCs.[11] Although HFCs are harmless to the ozone layer, they are potent greenhouse gases.[12] While their lifespan in the atmosphere is short (10 to 20 years) relative to carbon dioxide, HFCs filter infrared waves much more powerfully. HFCs are therefore thousands of times more heat-trapping than,[13] with a global warming potential (GWP) of 12 to 14,800.[14] Eliminating emissions of these gases could significantly lower the effects of global warming and avoid a full 0.5 degree Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels by the end of the century.[15]

Details of the amendment

Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol created separate standards for developing countries and non-developing.[16] Whether a country was categorized as developing or non-developing depended on individual economic conditions at the time of the agreement or pending special request.[17] Because the Protocol was created in the 1980s and countries economic situations have changed, the Kigali Amendment created three updated groups for compliance with the additional terms.[18]

The first group, which includes the "old" industrialized countries, is 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, is committed to reducing its consumption by 80% by 2045. Finally, this deadline is extended to 2047 for the rest of the countries, including India and a number of countries in the Middle East,[19] which are large consumers of air conditioning.

In addition, parties that experience monthly average temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius for at least two months per year, over a period of 10 consecutive years, may request a waiver.[20]

Reception to the amendment

Environmentalist website TreeHugger urged then-President of the United States Donald Trump to ask the United States Senate to ratify the amendment.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. December 9, 2022. United States Department of State. December 9, 2022. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20221209074334/https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/the-montreal-protocol-on-substances-that-deplete-the-ozone-layer/. December 9, 2022. On October 15, 2016, Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted the Kigali Amendment....
  2. Web site: February 2017 . Briefing Note on Ratification of the Kigali Amendment . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221002023340/https://conf.montreal-protocol.org/meeting/oewg/oewg-39/presession/briefingnotesfr/ratification_kigali_E.pdf . October 2, 2022 . April 12, 2019 . United Nations Environment Programme Ozone Secretariat . The Amendment is not legally binding on a party until it enters into force for that party..
  3. Web site: November 15, 2019 . Thirty years on, what is the Montreal Protocol doing to protect the ozone? . March 8, 2021 . . en.
  4. Web site: January 10, 2021 . The Montreal Protocol evolves to fight climate change . January 10, 2021 . . January 14, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210114030633/https://www.unido.org/our-focus-safeguarding-environment-implementation-multilateral-environmental-agreements-montreal-protocol/montreal-protocol-evolves-fight-climate-change . dead .
  5. Web site: Dillon . Jeremy . September 20, 2022 . Kigali climate treaty clears Senate hurdle . September 20, 2022 . E&E News.
  6. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVII-2-f&chapter=27
  7. Web site: July 14, 2020 . Kigali Amendment hits milestone 100th ratification, boosting climate action . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221103062228/http://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/kigali-amendment-hits-milestone-100th-ratification-boosting-climate . November 3, 2022 . September 20, 2022 . United Nations Environment Programme.
  8. Web site: Chime . Vivian . September 16, 2022 . FG unveils 'cooling action plan' to reduce emissions from refrigerants . September 20, 2022 . TheCable.
  9. Web site: Sandefur . Jason . July 17, 2020 . UN Agency Urges Quick Shift to Environmentally Friendly Cooling . September 20, 2022 . Courthouse News Service.
  10. Web site: Roan . Shari . March 12, 2012 . F. Sherwood Rowland dies at 84; UC Irvine professor won Nobel Prize . September 20, 2022 . . en-US.
  11. Web site: McGrath . Matt . October 15, 2016 . Climate change: 'Monumental' deal to cut HFCs, fastest growing greenhouse gases . September 20, 2022 . BBC News.
  12. Web site: Benshoff . Laura . September 20, 2022 . The U.S. ratifies treaty to phase down HFCs, gases trapping 1,000x more heat than CO2 . September 22, 2022 . Boise State Public Radio.
  13. Web site: Denning . Scott . Scott Denning . September 22, 2022 . US Senate ratifies treaty to phase down climate-warming HFCs from refrigerators and air conditioners – but what will replace them this time? . September 22, 2022 . The Conversation.
  14. Web site: Cariaso . Bella . September 17, 2022 . PH begins 3rd stage to phase out ODS . September 22, 2022 . The Manila Times.
  15. Velders GJ, Fahey DW, Daniel JS, McFarland M, Andersen SO . The large contribution of projected HFC emissions to future climate forcing . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 106 . 27 . 10949–54 . July 2009 . 19549868 . 2700150 . 10.1073/pnas.0902817106 . 2009PNAS..10610949V . free .
  16. Montreal Protocol, Article 5
  17. Web site: Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. 735.
  18. Section 5.8, Article 1. "Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (PDF). p.920-922
  19. "The decision and its annex state that Bahrain, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE will use a baseline averaging their calculated levels of HFC consumption for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, plus 65% of their baseline consumption of HCFCs."  Earth Negotiations Bulletin (PDF). p10.
  20. Web site: Decision XXVIII/2: Decision related to the amendment phasing down hydrofluorocarbons. Appendix II: List of countries operating under the high-ambient-temperature exemption.
  21. Web site: Alter . Lloyd . October 11, 2018 . Kigali Amendment Would Phase Out Climate-Changing HFC Refrigerants. Will Trump Ratify It? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220519205718/https://www.treehugger.com/kilgali-amendment-would-phase-out-climate-changing-hfc-refrigerants-4851609 . May 19, 2022 . December 14, 2022 . TreeHugger.

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