Australia ratifies Kigali agreement

AUSTRALIA: The Australian government is the latest to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the global agreement to reduce HFC usage.

Australia is one of the first 10 countries to ratify, having played a lead role in the agreement reached in October last year.

Under the Kigali Amendment, Australia and other developed countries will reduce the use of HFCs by 85% by 2036. Action to phase-down HFCs will contribute towards meeting Australia’s Paris Agreement target of reducing emissions by 26-28% of 2005 levels by 2030.

In any event, Australia has already passed domestic legislation that exceeds the global phase down. The Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Amendment Bill 2017, passed last year, will see Australia to phasing down HFC imports starting in 2018 and reach an 85% reduction by 2036. The Bill also streamlines licensing, reporting and administration of existing legislation, significantly cutting red-tape.

The other parties to the Amendment, listed in the order in which they ratified, are: Mali, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Rwanda, Palau, Norway, Chile, Tuvalu and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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