US President Joe Biden has directed his administration to prepare to send the Kigali Amendment protocol to the Senate for its advice and consent to U.S. ratification.
This is according to reports from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), an American non-governmental organization.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted in 2016 and entered into force on 1 January 2019,
It seeks to eliminate hydrofluorocarbons, the greenhouse chemicals better known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
President Biden’s quick action on the protocol sends a powerful signal to the world that the U.S. will join the global effort to cut reliance on these dangerous gases and drive a deep domestic and international climate agenda as well.
The executive order formally directs the State Department to prepare a ‘transmittal package’ to the U.S. Senate for the Kigali Amendment, the first step of the U.S. ratification process, within 60 days.
In 2016 during its adoption, Both Gina McCarthy and John Kerry helped negotiate the agreement, which the U.S. signed in 2016 but has not yet ratified.
Kerry was the Secretary of State while McCarthy was head of the US Environment Protection Agency during the signing of the Kigali Amendment.
They are both back in the Biden administration as key advisers on climate change.
Amendments to the Montreal Protocol typically require the Senate’s ‘advice and consent’ to ratification, making today’s announcement a key step towards bringing the U.S. properly into the agreement.
Amendments to the Montreal Protocol implementation worldwide can avoid HFC use equivalent to as much as 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide between now and 2050 and can prevent up to one-half a degree Celsius of climate warming over this century.
The passage of the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act at the end of the last Congress equips the administration with comprehensive authority to carry out the HFC phasedown in the United States.
The Natural Resources Defense Council says it plans to work with its partners to follow each step of the way to make sure United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies move as quickly and ambitiously as they can to reduce U.S. HFC by 85% over 15 years, as Kigali requires, or more.
Bright prospects
In 2018, thirteen Republican Senators sent a letter to President Trump expressing support for ratifying the Kigali Amendment and noting its economic benefits for the United States.
And more than 17 GOP Senators cosponsored the AIM Act, along with essentially all Democrats.
Like the original Montreal Protocol and subsequent amendments, there is every reason to expect bipartisan support for Kigali ratification.
Congress has also repeatedly appropriated funds to support the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund, which assists developing countries in their implementation.
The continuation of this support will be essential to achieving Kigali’s potential benefits.
More than 120 nations have already ratified the Kigali Amendment.
U.S. ratification may pave the way for similar action by China, India, and other major economies already moving forward on domestic action but which have yet to ratify.
Several of these countries were understandably waiting for a signal that the U.S. would move forward under the agreement.
Rwanda’s progress
In September last year, Martine Uwera, the National Focal Point of Montreal Protocol, told The New Times that Rwanda had reduced the importation of chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) from 4.1 tonnes in 2010 to 1.89 tonnes currently.
The means 54%, reduction of importation and use.
She said there was still a gap of 1.89 tonnes which we seek to phase out by 2030.
If not phased out, the substances could pose different effects risks which include food shortage as the radiations disturb developmental and physiological processes that decrease the productivity of crops as well as loss of wildlife since ozone depletion lead to a loss of plant species and reduce global food supply.
The effects of ozone layer depletion on human beings include skin cancer, risk of cataract, weakened human immune systems, DNA damage and lung diseases as ultraviolet radiations disturb biomolecules such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
An inventory that was carried out by Rwanda Environment Management Authority indicates that there are over 200,000 equipment such as fridges and air conditioners among big users of such climate-warming gases.
Rwanda has also adopted a national cooling strategy, which is one of the results of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to help phase out the gases.