Countries from around the world have reached an agreement on reducing emissions of a greenhouse gas that is 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Environmental Protection Administration Administrator Gina McCarthy announced that the deal came together at the 27th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol. The countries agreed to limit hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs.
HFCs are potent greenhouse gases that come from air conditioners, refrigerators and other equipment. Earlier this year, the EPA introduced a rule to completely ban HFCs.
On Thursday, she announced the amendment to the Montreal Protocol could possibly keep global temperatures from rising a half-degree Celsius by 2100.
“Reaching agreement on this decision by the parties will pave the way to help all countries transition to alternatives and away from HFCs,” McCarthy said in a statement. “It is a significant accomplishment for climate action on the road to the Paris Climate Conference later this month and sends a strong signal that the international community can come together to confront some of the world’s greatest environmental challenges and continue progress toward cutting global greenhouse gas emissions.”
The U.S. and other countries first agreed to start phasing out HFCs in the 1980s with the Montreal Protocol. That agreement has led to a 97 percent reduction in the production of substances that harm the ozone layer. Scientists believe the ozone layer will fully heal by 2050 thanks to the agreement.
HFCs were one of the gases many in the world transitioned to after the Montreal Protocol in order to protect the ozone layer, McCarthy said. However, in recent years it’s been discovered that HFCs are a major contributor to climate change, she said.
“The decision charts a course for additional high-level dialogue to reach consensus on setting a timeframe for freezing and ultimately phasing down the production and consumption of HFCs,” she said.
