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UN chief hails crucial world agreement to cut greenhouse gases

Xinhua, October 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday welcomed the adoption by governments at a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, of a critically important amendment to cut the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in order to safe the Ozone Layer.

The amendment was agreed upon to the Montreal Protocol phasing-down production and use of HFCs, which are a powerful, short-lived greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, the UN chief said in a statement.

At the Kigali meeting, nearly 200 nations on Saturday approved a timetable to stop use of the gases whose elimination could reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees celsius by 2100.

HFCs were introduced in the 1990s to replace chemicals that had been found to erode the ozone layer, but turned out to be catastrophic for global warming. HFCs are greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

"As HFCs are also the fastest-growing of all greenhouse gases, curbing their use will help limit near-term warming of the planet," the statement said.

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol builds on the strong global momentum for multilateral efforts to address climate change, including the landmark Paris Agreement, which will enter into force on Nov. 4; the adoption last week of a global, market-based mechanism for emission reductions by the international aviation industry; and other multilateral efforts under the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) process, the statement said.

Adoption of the amendment on HFCs will provide considerable benefits in the coming decades and help advance the Sustainable Development Goals, it added.

Significantly, the global phase-down of HFCs could avoid up to half a degree of global warming by the end of this century, providing a major boost for efforts to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius as stated in the Paris Agreement and to pursue efforts toward 1.5 degrees.

The UN chief called for continued collaboration and cooperation by all sectors of society in implementing these timely and much-needed agreements to reduce the risks of climate change. Endit