EIA urges the Parties to thrash out the details as early as possible

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has, in an official communiqué, applauded the decision of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol (MP) to work towards an amendment in 2016 to include hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants in the treaty’s purview, with a goal of moving towards a schedule to phase down their use across the globe. AHRI added that it had long supported including HFCs in the phase down-plan under the MP.

AHRI revealed that it was currently managing a research programme, known as the Low-Global Warming Potential Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program (Low-GWP AREP), which has been under way since 2011. According to AHRI, subsequent to the results of the programme, it had established a committee to investigate flammable refrigerants that are being considered as alternatives to high-GWP refrigerants, such as HFCs.

Calling it a revolutionary agreement, AHRI President and CEO, Stephen Yurek, said: “Even as other MP signatories have debated the original North American Proposal to include HFCs, AHRI’s member companies – including refrigerant producers and original equipment manufacturers – have been proactively researching potential alternatives to HFCs to ensure that air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers have access to appropriate refrigerants.”

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), in a similar communiqué, echoed AHRI’s view that the 27^th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol ended with an agreement to address the consumption and production of HFCs, though it stopped short of a legal amendment to the MP to phase down HFCs.

EIA Climate Campaign Team Leader, Clare Perry, said: “Montreal Protocol has a clear mandate on HFCs, and a path forward to resolving the remaining issues and agreeing an amendment in 2016. The Parties now need to roll their sleeves up, thrash out the details as early as possible and remind us why the Montreal Protocol is often referred to as the world’s most successful environmental treaty.”