Decade of Progress Under the Kigali Amendment

#GS-3 #Environment #Climate Change #Pollution #Economy #Infrastructure

Key takeaways

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol marked its 10th anniversary on October 15, 2026.
The treaty aims to reduce global hydrofluorocarbons consumption by 80% to 85% over three decades.
India must freeze its baseline in 2028, cut use by 10% by 2032, and achieve an 85% reduction by 2047.
The agreement prevents up to 0.5°C of global temperature rise by 2100.

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol recently completed its 10th anniversary on October 15, 2026.
This milestone brought global attention back to cutting down harmful hydrofluorocarbons to prevent up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100.

The Kigali Amendment is a legally binding international treaty that updates the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
It forces countries to gradually reduce the making and use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are powerful greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ozone Secretariat manages this treaty with financial help from the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

The original Montreal Protocol successfully removed nearly 99% of ozone-destroying substances like CFCs and HCFCs.
To replace them, industries started using hydrofluorocarbons because they do not harm the ozone layer in the stratosphere.
However, hydrofluorocarbons turned out to be dangerous short-lived climate pollutants with global warming potentials thousands of times stronger than carbon dioxide (CO2).
Countries like the Federated States of Micronesia and Mauritius first proposed this change in 2009.
Governments officially accepted the amendment on October 15, 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda, and it became active on January 1, 2019.

The main goal is to cut down global hydrofluorocarbons production and use by 80% to 85% over thirty years.
This reduction aims to stop severe climate change and prevent an estimated 0.3°C to 0.5°C of global temperature rise by 2100.

The treaty uses legally binding rules that divide countries into developed and developing tiers, giving poorer nations more time to switch to safe alternatives.
India falls under Article 5 Group 2 alongside nations like Pakistan, Iran, and various Gulf states.
India ratified the agreement in 2021 and must freeze its baseline in 2028, make an initial 10% cut by 2032, and reach an 85% reduction by 2047.
Unlike older rules that completely banned ozone-destroying chemicals, this treaty allows a small 15% to 20% remainder for essential medical and industrial cooling uses.
The Multilateral Fund (MLF) gives grants and technology support to help developing countries upgrade factories and train workers.
By pushing for cooling equipment changes, the treaty also saves energy, which the UNEP and IEA say can double the positive climate results.

Stopping up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100 helps the world keep total temperature increases below 1.5°C.
It helps the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) by pushing for energy-efficient cooling, lowering electricity bills, and cutting peak power demand.