The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It is a legally binding agreement designed to create rights and obligations in international law.
The Montreal Protocol was originally created to preserve and restore the ozone layer; participating countries agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), gases that had been causing ozone depletion. HFCs do not contain chlorine, so they do not cause ozone depletion, and therefore have been replacing CFCs under the Protocol. However, HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, so this amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that participating countries promise to phase down.
, 172 states and the European Union have ratified the Kigali Amendment.
Background Many industrial products, including refrigerants and other cooling services, use HFCs.
Originally, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used in these applications, but the deleterious effect of these gases on the ozone layer was revealed in 1974 by Paul J. Crutzen, Mario Molina, and F. Sherwood Rowland. The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 by the 20 major CFC producers and came into effect in 1989; since 1987, all 197 member states of the United Nations, among others, have ratified the Protocol. HFCs have since largely replaced CFCs.
Although HFCs are harmless to the ozone layer, they are potent greenhouse gases. While their lifespan in the atmosphere is short (10 to 20 years) relative to carbon dioxide (), HFCs filter infrared radiation much more powerfully. HFCs are therefore thousands of times more heat-trapping than , with a 100 year global warming potential (GWP) between 12 on the low end and 14,800 on the high end. For comparison, the GWP of carbon dioxide is 1. Eliminating emissions of these gases could significantly lower the effects of global warming by avoiding more than 80 billion metric tons of equivalent emissions by 2050, and avoid a full 0.5 degree Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels by the end of the century.
Details of the amendment Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol created separate standards for developing countries and non-developing.Montreal Protocol, Article 5 Whether a country was categorized as developing or non-developing depended on individual economic conditions at the time of the agreement or pending special request. Because the Protocol was created in the 1980s and countries economic situations have changed, the Kigali Amendment created three updated groups for compliance with the additional terms.Section 5.8, Article 1. "Handbook for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer" (PDF). p.920-922
The first group, comprising non-Article 5 (developed) countries, is committed to reducing HFC consumption to 15% of their baseline by 2036. This baseline is calculated as the average HFC consumption between 2011–2013, plus a 'buffer' of 15% of the party's HCFC baseline to account for the ongoing transition from ozone-depleting substances. A second group, including China and Brazil (Article 5 Group 1), will reduce consumption to 20% of their baseline by 2045. Their baseline includes a larger 65% HCFC component, reflecting a later transition timeline.[GC] Finally, a third group of high-ambient-temperature countries, including India and Saudi Arabia, must reach the 20% reduction target by 2047. A second group, which includes China, India and Brazil, is committed to reducing its consumption by 80% by 2045. Finally, this deadline is extended to 2047 for the rest of the countries, including India and a number of countries in the Middle East,"The decision and its annex state that Bahrain, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE will use a baseline averaging their calculated levels of HFC consumption for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, plus 65% of their baseline consumption of HCFCs." Earth Negotiations Bulletin (PDF). p10. which are large consumers of air conditioning.
In addition, parties that experience monthly average temperatures over for at least two months per year, over a period of 10 consecutive years, may request a waiver. Although Denmark approved the amendment, Greenland is excluded.
Parties Country Date Type of agreement 18 January 2019 Ratification 23 January 2019 Acceptance 16 November 2020 Ratification 22 November 2019 Ratification 2 May 2019 Acceptance 27 October 2017 Acceptance 27 September 2018 Ratification 24 November 2025 Ratification 30 May 2023 Ratification 1 July 2024 Ratification 8 June 2020 Ratification 19 April 2018 Ratification 3 November 2022 Ratification 4 June 2018 Ratification 3 October 2023 Approval 19 March 2018 Ratification 27 September 2019 Ratification 9 October 2020 Ratification 26 May 2021 Ratification 19 September 2020 Acceptance 19 October 2022 Acceptance 18 September 2025 Ratification 1 May 2018 Ratification 26 July 2018 Ratification 26 March 2021 Ratification 8 April 2021 Acceptance 24 August 2021 Ratification 3 November 2017 Ratification 15 October 2025 Approval 28 October 2020 Ratification 26 March 2019 Ratification 19 September 2017 Ratification 17 June 2021 Acceptance 25 February 2021 Ratification 16 November 2017 Ratification 16 June 2022 Ratification 22 August 2019 Acceptance 23 May 2018 Ratification 6 December 2018 Ratification 20 June 2019 Ratification 22 July 2019 Ratification 27 September 2018 Acceptance 6 December 2018 Approval 8 March 2024 Ratification 14 April 2021 Acceptance 22 January 2018 Ratification 22 August 2023 Ratification 13 September 2021 Acceptance 7 February 2023 Ratification 27 September 2018 Ratification 24 November 2020 Acceptance 5 July 2019 Ratification 27 September 2018 Approval 16 June 2020 Ratification 14 November 2017 Acceptance 29 March 2018 Approval 28 February 2018 Acceptance 5 May 2021 Ratification 11 July 2023 Acceptance 14 November 2017 Acceptance 2 August 2019 Ratification 5 October 2018 Ratification 29 May 2018 Ratification 11 January 2024 Ratification 5 December 2019 Ratification 22 October 2018 Ratification 8 April 2026 Ratification 17 June 2020 Ratification 28 January 2019 Ratification 14 September 2018 Approval 25 January 2021 Acceptance 27 September 2021 Ratification 14 December 2022 Ratification 12 March 2018 Ratification 25 May 2022 Ratification 29 November 2017 Acceptance 18 December 2018 Acceptance 16 October 2019 Ratification 22 September 2023 Acceptance 26 October 2018 Ratification 4 November 2024 Approval 8 September 2020 Ratification 16 November 2017 Acceptance 17 August 2018 Ratification 5 February 2020 Ratification 7 October 2019 Ratification 12 July 2020 Ratification 16 September 2020 Ratification 24 July 2018 Ratification 16 November 2017 Ratification 21 November 2017 Ratification 21 October 2020 Ratification 13 November 2017 Ratification 31 March 2017 Acceptance 19 December 2025 Acceptance 15 May 2017 Ratification 11 November 2025 Ratification 1 October 2019 Ratification 25 September 2018 Acceptance 12 May 2017 Ratification 22 September 2023 Acceptance 27 July 2022 Ratification 23 April 2019 Ratification 22 April 2022 Ratification 16 January 2020 Ratification 16 May 2019 Acceptance 3 November 2022 Ratification 6 August 2025 Ratification 8 February 2018 Acceptance 3 October 2019 Ratification 30 September 2020 Ratification 29 August 2018 Ratification 20 December 2018 Ratification 24 April 2018 Ratification 21 September 2017 Ratification 12 March 2020 Ratification 6 September 2017 Ratification 8 November 2024 Ratification 22 October 2025 Ratification 29 August 2017 Ratification 28 September 2018 Ratification 12 November 2024 Ratification 1 November 2018 Acceptance 7 August 2019 Ratification 3 November 2022 Ratification 7 January 2019 Ratification 17 July 2018 Approval 1 July 2020 Acceptance 3 October 2020 Acceptance 23 May 2017 Ratification 23 March 2018 Ratification 20 October 2020 Acceptance 4 October 2019 Ratification 10 September 2025 Acceptance 31 August 2018 Ratification 8 October 2021 Ratification 20 August 2019 Acceptance 15 June 2020 Ratification 1 June 2022 Ratification 16 November 2017 Ratification 7 December 2018 Ratification 23 May 2022 Ratification 27 November 2019 Ratification 1 August 2019 Ratification 19 January 2023 Ratification 9 June 2023 Acceptance 28 September 2018 Ratification 29 August 2025 Acceptance 2 November 2021 Ratification 7 November 2022 Ratification 17 November 2017 Ratification 7 November 2018 Ratification 5 April 2021 Ratification 29 June 2022 Ratification 25 March 2022 Ratification 3 April 2024 Ratification 8 March 2018 Acceptance 17 September 2018 Ratification 17 November 2017 Ratification 27 August 2021 Ratification 10 November 2021 Ratification 31 August 2020 Ratification 21 September 2017 Ratification 21 June 2018 Ratification 19 April 2024 Acceptance 14 November 2017 Ratification 31 October 2022 Ratification 12 September 2018 Ratification 20 April 2018 Ratification 5 December 2022 Ratification 27 September 2019 Approval 15 March 2021 Ratification 18 October 2022 Acceptance Notes
Notes
References