Efforts to ban businesses from using new refrigerators that emit harmful hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have taken a major step forward, after MEPs yesterday backed new legislation in the European Union.
At a plenary session in Strasbourg, the EU Parliament voted through proposals to prohibit the use of HFCs in new equipment in a number of sectors, most notably commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, by 2022. The law would also impact new fire protection equipment, aerosols, and foams.
HFCs are used instead of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were phased out more than 20 years ago. However, they have a global warming potential hundreds to thousands of times higher than CO2 and their use is on the rise. Unlike other greenhouse gases, emissions of HFCs have risen in the EU by 60 per cent since 1990.
The new legislation must now be approved by the European Council before it can be formally adopted.
If approved, the law would also ban the use of the most potent HFCs that have a global warming potential 2,500 times more than carbon dioxide in the servicing of refrigeration equipment.
Clare Perry of the Environmental Investigation Agency welcomed this week's vote as "a hugely encouraging lead from Europe in the fight against climate change".
"With the EU showing a progressive lead in this field, this decision should act as a catalyst for future international negotiations in pursuit of a global deal to address HFCs which, if achieved, could avoid emissions of up to 100 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2050," she said.
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