New Zealand is part of a global push to reduce the use of synthetic industrial gas that contributes to global warming says the environment minister Nick Smith.
Returning from chairing the OECD Environment Ministers’ meeting in Paris, Smith says a new challenge facing the world is the global warming from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) gas used in refrigeration and air conditioning to replace ozone-depleting gas such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs).
“The challenge will be in securing an agreement that sets an ambitious programme of phase down but which is affordable and will be practical for developing countries where refrigeration and air conditioning are essential to improving living standards,” says Smith
“I am confident that the New Zealand refrigeration industry is up to the challenge of addressing this global warming problem as they have proved in dealing with the issues of ozone layer protection,” he says.
They are already moving to alternatives with industries such as domestic refrigeration, transport, cold stores, and supermarkets,” says Smith
“The Ministry of the Environment will be working with industry following any international agreement to support the proposed phase down,” he says.
“We need a second revolution to cleaner technologies so as to protect the climate as well as the ozone layer,” says Smith.
“This global issue must be dealt with by countries working together and building off the success of the Montreal Protocol,” he says.
The Montreal Protocol was agreed in 1987 and is working to phase out the consumption of CFCs and HCFCs that damage the ozone layer and risk increasing skin cancer rates by two million per year.
Scientists estimate the ozone hole would be 40% larger without the agreement. The proposal is now to extend the agreement to include HFCs.
“We can make an enormous contribution to reducing the adverse impacts of climate change by replacing HFCs. They have a global warming effect up to 15,000 times greater than CO2 and their replacement with new technologies could avoid 0.5 degrees of projected temperature increase,” says Smith.
“This is a significant step given the global goal of limiting increases to less than 2 degrees,” he says.
“The OECD meeting of Environment Ministers was an excellent opportunity to advocate an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and there is growing support for change,” says Smith.
“The New Zealand delegation will join 196 other countries in Kigali this week to work on an amendment to control HFCs,” he says
