International News

KIGALI, Oct 13, (APP/AFP): Envoys from nearly 200 nations meet in Kigali on Thursday to discuss ridding the world of HFCs, gases introduced to save the ozone layer only to unwittingly assail Earth’s climate. Representatives of 197 countries — among them 40 ministers including US Secretary of State John Kerry — are attending the summit. Delegates are hopeful that after years of talks, countries are now poised to commit to phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), introduced in the 1990s to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerators, aerosols, air conditioners and foam insulation. CFCs were discontinued under the ozone-protecting Montreal Protocol when scientists realised they were responsible for the growing hole in the ozone layer, which protects Earth from the Sun’s dangerous ultraviolet rays. But it turned out that HFCs — while safe for the now-healing ozone — are thousands of times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. “We are meeting here in Kigali with unity of purpose: to pass an ambitious amendment to the Protocol that would phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons,” said Rwanda’s natural resources minister Vincent Biruta.