Naturally cool: Europe set to lead a climate revolution with refrigerants

(EurActiv, 8 May 2023) EU lawmakers’ push to phase down fluorinated gases may score the most significant climate victory of the decade and rid Europe’s heat pump market of China’s imports, argues Davide Sabbaddin.

Davide Sabbaddin is senior policy officer for climate at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). 

Beyond the “tunnel vision” decarbonisation talks, in which carbon emissions (CO2) get all the attention, a crucial battle for the climate is being fought: the regulation of fluorinated gases (f-gases).

While the name hardly rings a bell, fluorinated gases are ubiquitous in several key aspects of our daily lives.

These fabricated refrigerant gases are used to produce, import and preserve our food; heat and cool our homes and offices; transport the energy we consume; insulate our buildings with foams; and preserve our medicines and vaccines.

When f-gases burst onto the market, they did it to replace their ozone-depleting predecessor substances which got banned by the Montreal Protocol. But while they can be used to provide cooling without damaging the ozone layer, they do warm the atmosphere.

As potent greenhouse gases, f-gases global warming potential can be 25,000 times greater than CO2. A mass destruction climate bomb.

External link

EurActiv, 8 May 2023: Naturally cool: Europe set to lead a climate revolution with refrigerants