Taking Industrial Action – Preventing emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) to protect the climate and ozone layer

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is the most significant ozone-depleting substance (ODS) in the world today and is projected to remain so throughout the 21st century. It is also the third most important greenhouse gas (GHG), being 273 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO₂) on a tonne-for-tonne basis over a 100-year period.

Although it’s ozone-depleting potential was first recognised more than 50 years ago, and despite being listed as one of six GHGs under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), N₂O emissions have been largely ignored in environmental policy discussions to date. This briefing explores options to reduce emissions of N₂O from industrial sources. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, with its successful track record in phasing out ozone depleting substances and its legacy of increasing environmental and climate ambition, is uniquely well-suited to address the challenge posed by industrial emissions of N₂O.