Most world leaders who spoke this morning at President Joe Biden’s Leaders’ Summit welcomed the U.S. back to the climate fight. Many world leaders echoed President Biden’s science goal of limiting warming to 1.5 °C, and many shared the president’s focus on the decade of action to 2030.
At the conclusion of their 17 April 2021 bilateral meeting, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua pledged near-term actions to address the climate crisis. Countries pledge to strengthen Paris Agreement, implement the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, and reduce emissions under other sectoral agreements.
In a virtual summit with President Macron of France and Chancellor Merkel of Germany, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China will accept the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. President Xi also mentioned China’s intention to strengthen the control of non-CO2 greenhouse gases.
A fresh look at the economics of job creation reveals that investment in energy efficiency, decarbonization, and clean renewable energy creates a larger and more sustainable number of jobs if you consider the construction and manufacturing jobs as well as the many jobs created when the energy bill savings are spent locally. The job and economic advantage is even higher when health care savings and improvements in productivity from clean air are taken into account, according to a new analysis.
President Biden directed the State Dept. to prepare a transmittal package to the Senate for the ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down potent HFCs. “President Biden knows the Senate better than any president before him, and will be using the advice and consent process to build bipartisan support for this and future climate action, which the American people are demanding,” said IGSD President, Durwood Zaelke.
In a huge win for the environment and American businesses, the Consolidated Appropriations Act that was signed into law on 27 December 2020 phases down potent greenhouse gases HFCs. Reducing HFC refrigerants could avoid up to 0.5°C of future warming. Climate benefits could double with parallel improvements in energy efficiency of cooling equipment.
Coordinated international action on energy-efficient, climate-friendly cooling could avoid as much as 460 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – roughly equal to eight years of global emissions at 2018 levels – over the next four decades.
Environmentally Harmful Dumping of Inefficient and Obsolete Air Conditioners in Africa details the extent of the problem across ten countries in Africa, ultimately providing policymakers with a set of solutions to encourage a transition toward highly-efficient, sustainable cooling technologies.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on January 7th to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs and to transition the U.S. to more climate-friendly substitutes.
More than 50 nations agreed today to a declaration to promote innovation of energy efficient solutions and technologies in the development of so-called “cold chains”, cooling and refrigeration, to reduce food loss and waste, and curb resulting powerful greenhouse gas methane and HFC emissions.
