China’s emissions of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants now represent more than 20 per cent of the global total.
In a new study, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) found that emissions from HFC-125, HFC-134a and HFC-143a continue to rise.
Study author, Xiaoy Hu, said emissions had increased to 206.4 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2022.
Hu said this is equivalent to emissions from more than 500 natural gas-fired power plants in a single year.
He said the situation is likely to worsen as China’s requirements under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol allows for an increase in emissions.
This is because the Kigali Amendment requires a gradual phase-down of the production and consumption of HFCs.
As a developing country, China was required to cap its HFC use in 2024 at a baseline level and reduce it by 10 per cent by 2029.
However, China’s 2023 consumption of HFCs was 769.4 million tonnes, which amounts to only 85 per cent of the actual baseline cap.
This means that under the current rules, China can actually increase its consumption (and therefore emissions) by 15 per cent.
EIA UK climate campaign lead Clare Perry said this baseline calculation under the Kigali Amendment provides too much room for growth and takes away some of the ambition of this important global agreement.
“Even four years from now, when a 10 per cent reduction from the baseline is required, China can actually increase HFC use from current levels by some 45.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – and the next reduction step does not occur until 2035,” Perry said.
“This is untenable given we are facing a global climate crisis and urgently need to cut all greenhouse gas emissions this decade.
China is the world’s biggest producer of these gases and is in a prime position to take ambitious steps to move away from these dangerous chemicals.”