- The United States has joined with Canada and Mexico in formally supporting a proposal to curtail production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a decision that has been hailed as enlightened to meeting the global warming challenges.
The US State Department said the three nations detailed a schedule that if adopted will authorise the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to limit and ratchet down international production and use of HFCs.
"This is precisely the type of innovative and enlightened approach needed to meet the challenge of global warming," according to Samuel LaBudde, US Director of Climate Policy for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) - which first proposed and has been working to move HFCs under the Montreal Protocol for two years. "A rapid phase-out of HFCs is easily the most significant, achievable and cost-effective strategy for near-term mitigation of climate change," added Mr LaBudde.
The North American action follows a joint proposal submitted earlier this year by Micronesia and Mauritius that similarly called for expanding the Montreal Protocol's scope to include chemicals that do not impact the ozone layer but do contribute to global warming. Because HFCs are used as replacements for ozone depleting substances and have global warming potentials up to hundreds or thousands of times greater than CO2, their soaring growth for use in refrigerators and air conditioners threatens to negate the benefits that might be obtained from reducing other greenhouse gas emissions.
"An HFC phase out is absolutely essential to the success of global climate protection, particularly in light of the refusal of some nations to commit to emissions reductions at Copenhagen," said Mr LaBudde. "The need for action on HFCs is clear, the alternatives are available, and now it appears the political will exists for solving a critical aspect of global warming within a forum that has never failed and already includes every nation on Earth."
Although most nations have not yet taken official positions, support for regulating HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is widespread and growing. With 195 member nations including China and India, and widely regarded as the most successful environmental accord in history, the Montreal Protocol's full Conference of the Parties takes place in Egypt this November.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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