The Gaps In Closing The Ozone Hole

The cooling industry which first drilled the hole in the ozone layer is now burning the whole planet

- Avikal Somvanshi

The Ozone problem is joined at the hip of the world’s growing obsession for cool-ing. The cooling industry—refrigeration, air-conditioning, and insulation—first burned the hole in the ozone layer and is now heating up the planet. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS) and electricity used to run cooling devices are major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. To address this, the Montreal Protocol, the only universally adopted treaty, expanded its scope and ambition in 2016 by introducing the Kigali Amendment. It stemmed out of the guilt that its success in removing ozone-depleting chemicals from our cooling devices has filled the atmosphere with highly potent GHGs. So the Kigali Amendment will not just be a fight to protect the ozone layer, but will also be leveraged to fight climate change. But bridging the gap between ozone and climate challenges is not going to be easy. The Kigali Amendment is fiendishly complicated—given its technical and political nuances—but it broadly caps and reduces the use of HFCS in a gradual process.

The agreement recognizes the linkages between the transition in refrigerants and energy efficiency of air-conditioners (ACS). It aims to improve energy efficiency because the world will need more mechanical cooling as the climate gets hotter, electricity generation to keep the ACs running is a critical climate concern. Cooling accounts for 10 percent of all global electricity consumption as per the International Energy Agency.