Colombia. Unanimously, the plenary of the House of Representatives approved Law 369 of 2019 through which Colombia ratifies the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The Amendment will reduce 105 million tons of carbon dioxide in the world and thus prevent the increase in the average temperature of the planet by up to 0.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
The Kigali Amendment is the latest update of the Montreal Protocol, adopted on 15 October 2016 and which entered into force on the first of January this year. The Montreal Protocol is one of the most successful multilateral environmental agreements to which Colombia has been a signatory since 1993. It provides for the elimination of the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
The Amendment will allow the country to lead a transition to cutting-edge technologies with greater energy efficiency and more environmentally friendly substances that will translate into competitive advantages in the global market. In addition, the national industry would have the opportunity to request resources from the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol to carry out its processes of conversion to new technologies.
This Amendment adds to the list of substances controlled by the Protocol hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are not ozone-depleting substances, but are greenhouse gases. In the case of developed countries, this transition began in 2019 while, for China, African countries and those that make up the Latin American and Caribbean region, the reduction will begin in 2024.
In the 90s, the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) began to be promoted to replace CFCs and HCFCs, which are highly depleted of the ozone layer. These substances, which were presented as the best alternative at the time, are mainly used in air conditioners, refrigeration appliances, polyurethane foams and aerosols. Over time, it was established that HFCs were in turn, a serious threat to climate stability with a high global warming potential.
Source: Minambiente.
