An agreement was reached over the weekend in Kigali to phasedown HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.
The historic agreement is a critical step towards limiting global warming and the single biggest climate action of the year, just weeks before leaders meet in Morocco for international climate talks.
The amendment establishes three different timetables for all developed and developing countries to freeze and then reduce their production and use of HFCs.
Developed countries agreed to make their first HFC cuts by 2019. China, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, and more than 100 other developing countries have committed to freeze their HFC production and use by 2024, and make further reductions thereafter.
India, Gulf States, and Pakistan have agreed to make HFC reductions on a slower track.
The Kigali Amendment could avoid up to half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century.
Stay tuned for CCN's special report detailing behind the scenes negotiations and industry feedback to this significant milestone.