AN ARTICLE ON LATEST CONTROVERSY OVER REFRIGERANT GASES.

The U.S. and other Industrialised nations have been compelling India and other
developing nations to agree to the phase out of Hydroflouro Carbons(HFC's) and move to
some safer and climate friendly gases like Hydroflouro Olefins (HFO's)(being produced
by the U.S. company DuPont) which the U.S. claims are safer and do not warm the globe.
Let us see how much truth is there in this claim of U.S. and what it means for India if it
acquiesces to the U.S. pressure.
Overview of phase out of other Refrigerant gases.
In the mid 80's , the British Antarctic Survey team discovered a hole in the ozone layer
over Antarctica.
Given that the Caucasian population was more vulnerable to the effects of UV
radiation(due to less melanin in the skin) , ozone layer depletion assumed priority for
Northern counties.
In 1987 , a multilateral agreement , Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete The
Ozone Layer , was drawn.
The cause of the hole in the ozone layer was a chemical called CFC. Used mainly in
aerosol proponents , refrigeration , AC's etc. The main culprit was the "chlorine" which led
to the break down of ozone.
Countries decided to abandon CFC and instead shift to a partially tweaked CFC , called
HCFC. This also damages the ozone layer , though less than CFC , and was supposed to
be an interim solution before a safer alternative is developed.
The Industrialized countries have to phase out HCFC by 2020 and the developing
countries have to follow the suit by 2030.
Now what is the problem?
The problem is the Industrialized nations are already using non chlorinated Hydroflouro
Carbon(HFC) as an alternative to HCFC. though these HFC's are Non Ozone Depleting
but they have thousand times more Global Warning Potential (GWP) than CO2. HFC's are
classified under Short Lived Climate Forces(SLCF) which warm the climate but have
relatively shorter lifetime in the atmosphere ( CO2 which is a long term gas remains in the
atmosphere for over a century). Other SLCF's include Methane , Black Carbon(soot) etc.
So?

Now it is known that the industrialised worlds transition to HFC was a failure because of
its high GWP. On the one hand , The U.S. wants to showcase itself as the champion of
climate change by forcing India , China and other developing countries not to adopt HFC
after phasing out HCFC's , and on the other , it wants them to adopt gasses being produced
by its MNC's which are Patented , Costly and are not tested for their effect on Global
warming.
What is the controversy between Montreal Protocol and UNFCCC?
Rich countries want HFC's to be phased out by bringing them under the Montreal
protocol. They argue that Montreal Protocol should address HFC's because their use has
increased due to the CFC's and HCFC's phase out pushed by the protocol.
Developing countries argue that HFC is not an Ozone Depleting substance , rather , it is
among six green house gases under Kyoto Protocol ( CO2. Methane , N2O , HFC's ,
PFC's and SF6).
The rich countries want HFC to be removed from the UNFCCC because under this the
phase out can be done only through Clean Development Mechanisms , and to earn more
carbon credit , a country will move to least GWP refrigerant gases such as hydrocarbons
(which are non patented and cheap) and MNC's of rich countries especially of the U.S.
will lose the huge opportunity. And moreover , UNFCCC works on the principle of
common but differentiated responsibility which means the responsibly to phase out will be
more on developed nations.
Source.
1. Down to earth magazine
2. The Hindu
By.
Mohammed Yunus.