On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday 22 September, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete called on all parties to the Montreal Protocol to reach an ambitious agreement in October to reduce the global consumption and production of HFCs.
At stake is climate protection. HFCs are highly powerful industrial greenhouse gases (much more powerful than CO2), which are used as substitutes for substances that reduce the ozone layer in many applications, such as air-conditioning systems, refrigerators, flame retardants, solvents and aerosols.
"Parties have a clear mandate to reach an agreement. We are nearly there. However, the last stretch will require flexibility from all sides to reach an ambitious outcome. That means agreeing to an early freeze of consumption and production and a rapid reduction schedule for all parties", the commissioner said.
An ambitious amendment to the Montreal Protocol with this objective in mind is precisely what the coalition of the most ambitious countries, an alliance of industrialised and developing countries, is calling for in the New York declaration. Cañete signed it on behalf of the EU.
The next negotiation session will be held in Kigali (Rwanda) in October. "Kigali gives us an opportunity to take the first concrete step towards implementing the Paris Agreement", the commissioner said.
"Developed countries are prepared to take the lead: starting with the first reduction step as early as 2019. The EU is already leading the world in restricting the use of HFCs and finding alternatives to them", he said, also reiterating that EU legislation brought in a freeze on use in 2015 and an initial reduction stage in 2016. "While recognising that developing countries need more time, it is important to agree on a start date as close as possible to 2020", said the commissioner.
The EU wants a world-wide agreement to reduce the use and production of these greenhouse gases. In Dubai, the parties to the Montreal Protocol agreed to work on an amendment to this effect in 2016. Progress was made at the last negotiating session in Vienna this July.
Securing an agreement on HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is one of the priorities of the 2016 action plan adopted by the EU for its post-COP 21 climate diplomacy (see EUROPE 11488). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)