Kigali Agreement Major Step in Struggle to Mitigate Global Warming

After years of political negotiation and technical revision, the 170 signatories to the 1987 Montreal Protocol assembled in Kigali, Rwanda to pass a series of measures aimed at reducing expected global warming by 0.5 ℃. Most significantly, the amendment will oblige countries to phase out 90 percent of all hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are a set of greenhouse gases thousands of times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide commonly that are found in refrigeration, air-conditioning, and certain aerosols. Without action, scientists predict that the increased use of HFCs will increase the global temperature by anywhere from 0.2 ℃ to .44 ℃. This small difference could have enormous impacts on sea-level and weather patterns.

"It is likely the single most important step we could take at this moment to limit the warming of our planet and limit the warming for generations to come," remarked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. "It is the biggest thing we can do in one giant swoop."

As with past climate agreements, however, developing countries have the most ground to make up in meeting new regulatory standards.

While the United States has already begun following the European Union’s lead by phasing out HFCs under the Clean Air Act and President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, developing countries, such as China and India, have increased their use of older, HFC-reliant refrigeration and cooling technologies over the past decade.

Ultimately, however, negotiators finally reached a compromise by agreeing on longer time tables for developing countries. More than 100 developing countries, including China, will start taking action only in 2024, while a smaller group, including India, Pakistan, and some Gulf states, successfully lobbied for a 2028 start date.

While the provisions of the Kigali amendment represent concrete progress on a global issue that has at times seemed impervious to swift and comprehensive international action, some groups, especially from at-risk island nations, remained ever critical of the amendment’s slow implementation.

Vincent Biruta, Rwanda’s Minister of Natural Resources, remarked that “Africa is a continent that is deeply vulnerable to climate change...We are witnessing disastrous droughts—our people are losing lives. We need to address climate change if we are to address poverty.”

“It’s a step toward ensuring the survival of our island,” added Mattlan Zackhras, Minister of Climate Change for the Marshall Islands, “but we need to take further steps.”