World leaders are gathering in Rwanda to strike an ambitious deal to phase down the ozone-damaging hydrofluorocarbons, where India and other developing countries are expected to seek incremental cost support for their industries and transfer of technology from developed nations.
Excitement is building up ahead of the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, taking place in the Rwandan capital Kigali between October 8-14.
The objective is to adopt an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the potent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the meeting may result in a legally-binding mechanism to ban the HFCs, commonly used in refrigerators and air-conditioners.
The meeting is happening an year after world leaders reached an agreement in Paris to reduce greenhouse gases emissions to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius above those in pre-industrial times.
An agreement at the earliest to reach a "freeze year" - the year in which the HFC phase down begins - could help meet the Paris Agreement goals, experts say.
They believe an agreement to phase down HFCs will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere and could prevent global temperatures from rising by up to 0.5 degree Celsius.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave is expected to put forth developing nations' view on pending issues, including which countries will reduce how much of HFC consumption and the issue of financial assistance from the developed nations.
India and other developing countries want developed countries, including the US, to give incremental cost support to industries in developing nations for three-five years.
The developed countries are willing to provide the support for only one year.
Developing nations also want the developed countries to address the issues of transfer of technology and Intellectual property rights (IPR).
The IPR for the newer eco-friendly refrigerant gases are held by two American companies. India wants the developed countries to support the transfer of this technology.
Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General of New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said any agreement will depend on how developed countries, especially the US, reciprocates to Indian proposals.
"India is going to Kigali with a proactive agenda. My hope is that the developed countries too would respond positively and with a sense of accommodation," Bhushan said.
Developed countries have not put any new proposal on the table to increase their ambition on the phase down of HFCs - factory-made chemicals considered hundreds to thousands times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change.
India wants to increase its ambition but also wants developed countries to reciprocate.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
