US, China get serious on HFCs

The United States and China have made a joint commitment of mutual cooperation to phase down HFCs under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, following meetings in Shanghai between US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua.

Among the world’s largest producers and consumers of HFCs, the two nations will hopefully play a strong leadership role in addressing the climate-forcing effects of synthetic greenhouse gases. To this end they have committed to extending their mutual cooperation to other countries.

China also recently pledged to accept the Kigali Amendment at an online summit with French President Emmanuel Macron German Chancellor Angela Merkel, joining the 118 countries (and European Union as a whole) to have ratified the treaty so far.

During the online summit Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the nation’s intention to reduce synthetic greenhouse gas emissions on its way to a 2060 net-zero emissions target.