The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has a uniquely successful legacy. For almost four decades, the treaty has been instrumental in protecting the ozone layer and combating climate change, securing the successive phaseout of more than 99 per cent of the production of controlled ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
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.
This briefing outlines EIA’s concerns over carbon trading and the sale of carbon offset credits to fund activities related to the management and destruction of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
Five years after EIA first revealed a widespread European illegal trade in hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) climate super pollutant gases, a new investigation has revealed that significant levels of trafficking persist, despite the worsening climate emergency.
Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) are fluorine-containing synthetic compounds with high Global Warming Potentials (GWP). They are the fastest growing group of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and have been regulated in the European Union (EU) since 2006.
Despite this undeniable success, significant greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to almost half a billion tonnes of CO2 are occurring each year, linked to unregulated fluorochemical industrial processes. This briefing explores additional measures that can be taken under the Montreal Protocol to contribute to averting the climate crisis.