Nearly 200 countries have reached an agreement to phasedown hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) at the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, Rwanda, over the weekend.
Under the historic agreement the countries adopted an amendment to cut the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80 per cent over the next 30 years.
The global deal which includes Australia could avoid up to half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century.
In a formal statement, the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, said Australia has cemented itself as a global leader playing a key role in securing international agreement to reduce HFC emissions by 85 per cent.
These gases, Frydenberg said, are used in more than 45 million pieces of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment and contribute up to two per cent of Australia’s carbon equivalent emissions.
He said the reduction in emissions will be achieved through a gradually declining cap on imports and is estimated to achieve up to 72 billion tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalent emission savings by 2050.
"This is roughly one and a third times global annual emissions," the Minister said.
"This will not only benefit the environment but provide long-term investment certainty to industry, allowing a gradual and low cost transition to alternative gases and equipment.
"It complements the Turnbull Government’s decision in May this year to implement a domestic cap on HFC imports from 2018 to meet 2030 emission reduction targets."
The Kigali Amendment is considered the most significant change to the Montreal Protocol, widely considered to be the world’s most successful environment protection agreement, since 1990.
The Montreal Protocol was established in 1987 to address the depletion of the ozone layer by harmful substances. This resulted in the eradication of 99 per cent of ozone depleting substances and prevented emissions equivalent to 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide
Australia was among the early countries to sign up to the Montreal Protocol and has often gone well beyond the protocol’s requirements.
All countries including Australia hope that a final agreement on the global HFC reduction will work as a positive marker for the Marrakech Climate Change Conference later this month.
The phasedown agreement will see Australia and other developed countries phasedown HFCs to 85 per cent of current consumption levels by 2036 with developing countries to achieve this reduction by 2045-47.
The amendment establishes three different timetables for all developed and developing countries to freeze and then reduce 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 HFC production and use by 2024.
India, Gulf States, and Pakistan have agreed to make HFC reductions on a slower track.
The amendment also includes periodic reviews every five years, during which a technical panel will assess the pace of technology development and adoption and determine if adjustments are necessary. These reviews will provide opportunities to increase targets and accelerate the phaseout.
United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, said HFCs already emit almost as much pollution as 300 coal-fired power plants.
"It will only get worse if we don’t act which is why this phasedown is so important," Kerry said.
"This is a huge step forward and most importantly it honours our moral responsibility to protect the health and the livability of the planet that we share."