Biden orders US ratification of Kigali
27th January 2021
USA: US President Joe Biden has today issued an executive order seeking the US Senate’s consent to ratify the Kigali Amendment to phase down HFC refrigerants.
The Kigali commitment is one of wide ranging executive actions to tackle the climate crisis announced by the new president. It aims to put the climate crisis at the centre of US foreign policy and national security and commits the US government to actions on climate change, creating Jobs, building infrastructure, and delivering environmental justice.
A statement from the White House tonight says: “The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents. Domestic action must go hand in hand with United States international leadership, aimed at significantly enhancing global action. Together, we must listen to science and meet the moment.”
The executive orders follow through on President Biden’s promise to take aggressive action to tackle climate change, including rejoining the Paris Agreement and immediate review of what it sees as the previous “harmful rollbacks” of environmental standards.
Of specific significance to the air conditioning and refrigeration industry, the executive order includes a commitment to the worldwide Kigali amendment, which has so far been ratified by 112 nations.
The order states: “The secretary of state shall prepare, within 60 days of the date of this order, a transmittal package seeking the Senate’s advice and consent to ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, regarding the phase down of the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons.”
The Kigali Amendment is still to be ratified by the world’s three biggest users – China, India, and the US. Ratification by the USA is likely to put pressure on the remaining countries to take similar action.
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