Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for the Environment

3 October 2016 Media Statement
NZ advocates reduction in harmful gas use

New Zealand is part of a global push to reduce the use of synthetic industrial gases that contribute to global warming, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith said today in returning from chairing the OECD Environment Ministers’ meeting in Paris.

“The new challenge we face is the global warming from hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) gases used in industries like refrigeration and air conditioning to replace ozone depleting gases like hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs). We need a second revolution to cleaner technologies so as to protect the climate as well as the ozone layer. This is a global issue that can only be dealt with by countries working together and building off the success of the Montreal Protocol.”

The Montreal Protocol was agreed in 1987 and is working to phase out the consumption of CFCs and HCFCs that damage the ozone layer and risk increasing skin cancer rates by two million per year. Scientists estimate the ozone hole would be 40 per cent larger without the agreement. The proposal is now to extend the agreement to include HFCs.

“We can make a huge contribution to reducing the adverse impacts of climate change by replacing HFCs. They have a global warming effect up to 15,000 times greater than CO2 and their replacement with new technologies could avoid 0.5 degrees of projected temperature increase. This is a significant step given the global goal of limiting increases to less than 2 degrees.

“The OECD meeting of Environment Ministers was a good opportunity to advocate amendment to the Montreal Protocol and there is growing support for change. The New Zealand delegation will join 196 other countries in Kigali this week to work on an amendment to control HFCs. The challenge will be in securing an agreement that sets an ambitious programme of phase down but which is affordable and will be practical for developing countries where refrigeration and air conditioning are important to improving living standards.

“I am confident that the New Zealand refrigeration industry is up to the challenge of addressing this global warming problem as they have proved in addressing the issues over ozone layer protection. They are already moving to alternatives with industries like domestic refrigeration, transport, coolstores, and supermarkets. The Ministry for the Environment will be working with industry following any international agreement to support the proposed phase down.”

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