Press Releases

Warming caused by one of the six main greenhouse gases will be taken out of the climate system through the Kigali Amendment agreed in the early morning hours today in Rwanda. The amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out HFCs is the largest temperature reduction ever achieved by a single agreement.

Today Bill Gates and other philanthropic foundations announced fast-start funding to maximize energy efficiency in parallel with an ambitious HFC amendment under the Montreal Protocol.

Today California Governor Jerry Brown signed the nation’s—and the world’s— strictest law against powerful short-lived super pollutants – SB 1383 – pushing the state’s near-term climate mitigation efforts one step further.

The top climate priority of President Obama to use the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs became much more likely in the early hours of Sunday, when almost all parties converged on a narrower set of options on key issues as they concluded their extraordinary meeting in Vienna.

Today President Obama, Prime Minister Trudeau, and President Pena Nieto agreed to an aggressive double-barreled climate strategy, committing to cut both carbon dioxide, by moving to 50% clean energy sources by 2025, and the short-lived super pollutants.

Today Prime Minister Modi and President Obama took another big step forward as partners in the battle to slow climate change making a down payment by cutting HFCs under Montreal Protocol.

The May 27th G7 leaders’ declaration committed for the first time to cutting near-term warming by phasing down short-lived super pollutants black carbon, methane, and HFCs. The leaders also committed to amending the Montreal Protocol in 2016 to phase down HFCs.

In the first test of post-Paris climate mitigation, Parties to the Montreal Protocol made significant progress last week to eliminate warming from super greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used primarily as refrigerants in air conditioners and other equipment. HFCs are one of the six main greenhouse gases.