WASHINGTON, US: The United States and China, the world’s top two greenhouse-gas emitters, have agreed to work together and with other countries to phase down the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) as an important new step to combat global climate change. A global phase down of HFC could potentially reduce some 90 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2050, equal to roughly two years worth of current global greenhouse gas emissions, the White House statement said after the two-day informal summit.
“On 10 June 2013, Barack Obama, President, US and Xi Jinping, President, China agreed on an important new step to confront global climate change. For the first time, the United States and China will work together and with other countries to use the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), among other forms of multilateral cooperation,” said the White House in a press statement.
According to the bilateral agreement “regarding HFC, the US and China agreed to work together and with other countries through multilateral approaches that include using the expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFC, while continuing to include HFC within the scope of UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol provisions for accounting and reporting of emissions. Left unabated, HFC emissions growth could grow to nearly 20 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, a serious climate mitigation concern.”
© The Economic Times News
Worldofchemicals provides news updates on polymer chemistry, green chemistry, industrial chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry etc - https://www.worldofchemicals.com/media/index.html