EPP Group further commits to fighting climate change

European Parliament to ratify an amendment which will extend the Montreal Protocol and ultimately reduce 70 billion CO2-equivalents by 2050

Today, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment further committed to climate protection, ratifying an amendment, agreed upon by the signatory states, to the Montreal Protocol in Kigali in 2016.

The main problem with the entry-into-force of the Kigali Amendment is the effect of specific substances - fluorinated hydrocarbons (HFCs) or fully fluorinated hydrocarbons (PFC) - which are used in devices such as refrigerators, air conditioning and ventilation plants and significantly contribute to global warming. A kilo of fluorinated hydrocarbons contributes 3,170 times more to the greenhouse effect than a kilo of CO2. Consequentially, the amendment’s effects will be a reduction of 70 billion CO2-equivalents until 2050. This is 11 times the US’ yearly amount of CO2-emissions.

"We regret the US' decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement but we should remember that other instruments exist for climate protection that are crucial for us, the Montreal Protocol being one of those", said Peter Liese MEP, the EPP Group Spokesman on the Environment Committee, after the committee ratified the amendment, stressing that a plenary vote should follow soon.

"The EU’s prompt adoption of the Kigali Amendment will signal its commitment to making a substantial contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions", said Jose Ignacio Faria MEP, the EPP Group’s negotiator on the topic, adding that the amendment represents a crucial advance at global level in the area of climate change and environmental protection.

"We need to rapidly start reducing the production and use of climate-damaging substances such as fluorinated hydrocarbons. This will slow down global warming significantly", concluded Liese.

The amendment shall enter into force in 2019, given that at least 20 countries ratify it.