Image: Shutterstock / Mikhail P.
Shedding light on a blind spot: leveraging the vast emissions reduction potential of correct disposal of refrigerants to achieve NDCs
The global demand for refrigeration and air conditioning continues to grow and with that the stock of appliances, foams and products containing substances with a high global warming potential. Some of them even contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. These so-called banks of Ozon Depleting Substances (ODS) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are not being managed or disposed in an environmentally sound manner and emit substances equivalent to approximately 1.5 Gt CO2 each year.
Currently, there are no global agreements in place to address the challenge of accumulating ODS and HFC banks in old cooling equipment. As a result, this specific emission reduction potential has remained largely untapped up to now: The newly launched Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance (COPA) brings together all relevant actors to jointly work on urgently needed solutions for ODS and HFC banks. COPA will support member countries and partners in exploiting GHG emission reduction potential in ODS and HFC banks management, thereby making a significant contribution to achieving partner countries’ mitigation and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) targets and contributing to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C increase.
The focus of the side event is to highlight the potential of managing ODS and HFC banks and how it can be used to raise NDC ambitions.