Used in refrigeration, air conditioning, certain aerosols and the manufacture of insulating foams, hydrofluorocarbons are formidable greenhouse gases.
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A breakthrough in the fight against global warming. US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, November 17, asked the United States Congress to ratify an amendment to an international treaty aimed at greatly reducing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), greenhouse gases extremely harmful to the climate. The Democrat urged the Senate to support the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, signed by 124 countries and which provides for the phase-out of HFCs.
Used in refrigeration, air conditioning, certain aerosols and the manufacture of insulating foams, HFCs are formidable greenhouse gases. The United States played a central role in drafting the amendment, which calls on states to reduce HFCs by 85% by 2036 – a target pushed back a few years for other countries.
If the deal is honored, it could reduce global warming by 0.5 ° C by 2100, experts say. But Washington has not ratified it after former President Donald Trump’s administration flipped on US rules to reduce the use of these chemicals.
“Ratification by the United States would advance American interests by [leur permettant] to remain at the forefront of the development and deployment of alternatives to HFCs, securing access to rapidly growing refrigeration and cooling markets overseas and stimulating U.S. investment, exports and growth in the employment in this sector “, pleaded Joe Biden in his letter to the Senate.
Hydrofluorocarbons have been used since the 1990s to replace CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which are mainly responsible for destroying the ozone layer, and which had for this reason been banned under the Montreal Protocol.