[ad_1]
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has ratified a United Nations agreement to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant (HFC), a fluid or gas used to cool refrigerators and air conditioners, as part of measures to protect the ozone layer.
Under the agreement, Malaysia is to reduce HFC consumption by 80% by 2045, with frozen consumption at a baseline on January 1, 2024.
Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said ratification will benefit Malaysia in terms of trade access with other countries, financial assistance under the Multilateral Fund, and technical assistance for local industries to become alternatives and low carbon technologies.
“This, in turn, will open opportunities for local industries to lead to products that can compete in the global market in the future,” he said.
The instrument of ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol was presented to the United Nations on October 21. The Montreal Protocol, part of the Vienna Convention, is an agreement to limit the use of substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The Kigali Amendment entered into force on January 1, 2019 and has been ratified by 110 countries.
He said the government started consultations in early 2017 on reducing HFC consumption. Among those consulted are the refrigeration and air conditioning, fire protection, solvent and other relevant manufacturing sectors.
HFCs are currently used as substitutes for hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which deplete the ozone layer. However, HFCs are also powerful greenhouse gases, with a very high global warming potential, up to 14,800 higher than carbon dioxide.
Reducing HFC consumption is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 105 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2100, which will prevent global temperatures from rising by 0.5 degrees Celsius, the Ministry of Environment.
