Lok Sabha Question No. 265 (STARRED), answered on 2017-03-21
Subject: Kigali Agreement
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: BAIJAYANT "JAY" PANDA, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 265*

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2017

## Kigali Agreement

## 265.    SHRI BAIJAYANT JAY PANDA:

## SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of the Kigali Agreement which amended the Montreal Protocol and substantially limited the emission of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that contribute to global warming;
- (b) the commitments pledged by India in the Kigali Agreement and the action plan to fulfil its commitments;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  banned  the  release  of  HFC-23,  a  family  of  potent greenhouse gases and if so, the alternatives for the same;
- (d) the budgetary allocation for aiding the purpose of attaining these goals; and
- (e) the measures taken by the Government to bolster R&D and technological initiatives to come up with alternatives to HFCs and cleaner sources of energy?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the table of the House.

****

Statement in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 265 for reply on 21.3.2017 regarding Kigali Agreement raised by Shri Baijayant Jay Panda And Shri R. Dhruva Narayana.

(a)  &  (b): The  28 th Meeting  of  Parties  to  the  Montreal  Protocol  on  Substances  that Deplete  the  Ozone  Layer,  held  in  Kigali,  Rwanda  from  10 th to  15 th October,  2016 adopted  an  amendment  to  the  Protocol  for  phasing  down  the  Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),  a  greenhouse  gas,  within  a  specific  time  frame  in  the  interest  of  protecting environment from adverse effects of its global warming potential.

Under the Kigali Amendment, the developed countries have undertaken, to phase down HFCs by 2036 with reference to baseline years of 2011-2012-2013. It has been agreed that  the  developing  countries  will  have  a  differentiated  time  schedule  for  such  phase down.  There  are  two  sets  of  baselines  agreed  for  the  purpose  of  phase-down  by developing countries; while China and a few other countries will have 2020-2021-2022 as  their  baseline,  India  along  with  some  of  the  developing  countries  will  have  20242025-2026  as  the  baseline  years,  with  a  commitment  to  freeze  the  production  and consumption in 2028. The freeze year can be deferred to 2030 subject to technology review. In addition to production and consumption of HFCs in the baseline year, 65 % of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons  (HCFC)  baseline  has  also been  added  to  provide  for adequate carbon space for the development of the country.  India has undertaken to complete its  phase  down  in  4  steps  from  2032  onwards  with  cumulative  reduction  of 10% in 2032, 20% in 2037, 30% in 2042 and 85% in 2047. This agreement facilitates adequate carbon space for growth on domestic industry while minimizing the cost to the economy and consumers during the transition period.

The  Montreal  Protocol  had  no  arrangement  till  date  to  incentivise  improvement  in energy  efficiency  in  case  of  use  of  new  refrigerant  and  technology.  Under  the  Kigali Amendment, it has been agreed that the Multilateral Fund (MLF) for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol will fund maintenance and/or increase in the energy efficiency with new technology. Funding for R&D and servicing sector in developing countries has also been included in the agreed solutions on finance. In addition, the costs of patents and  designs  and  incremental  cost  of  royalties  have  been  included  as  agreed  cost elements  for  support  by  MLF.  The  agreed  baseline  years,  freeze  year  and  reduction schedule under the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol for phase-down of HFCs is given at Annexure.

(c): The government has directed manufacturers of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 not to emit/ vent Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) - 23 in the atmosphere and to incinerate HFC - 23 using an efficient and proven technology. However, HFC - 23 may be used as feedstock for production.

(d): Funds  for  achieving  compliance  targets  under  the  Montreal  Protocol  by  the developing countries (Article 5 parties) are provided by the Multilateral Fund under the Montreal  Protocol.  The  funding,  inter  alia,  covers  incremental  costs  for  technology conversions in industry, technical assistance, training and capacity building, information dissemination  and  awareness  generation,  and  management  and  coordination.  No separate budgetary allocation  has  been  made  by  the  Government  for  meeting compliance  targets  set  by  Protocol.  However,  the  Government  has  a  fiscal  incentive scheme  which  provides  custom  and  exise  duty  exemption  for  phase  out  of  Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) using non-ODS technology.

(e): A collaborative R&D programme for development of low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives to Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) has been announced by the Ministry of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  with  the  objective  of  development  of indigenous  cost  effective  alternate  technologies  to  HFCs  using  low  GWP  non  Ozone Depleting Substances. This inter alia includes development of next generation sustainable refrigerants.

****************

Annexure The agreed baseline years, freeze year and reduction schedule as Kigali Amendment of the

## Montreal Protocol for phase-down of HFCs

|           | A5 Group 1 (Developing)   | A5 Group 2 (Developing)   | A2 (Developed)          |
|-----------|---------------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------|
| Baseline  | 2020-2022                 | 2024-2026                 | 2011-2013               |
| Formula   | Average HFC consumption   | Average HFC consumption   | Average HFC consumption |
| HCFC      | 65% baseline              | 65% baseline              | 15% baseline*           |
| Freeze    | 2024                      | 2028                      | -                       |
| 1 st step | 2029 - 10%                | 2032 - 10%                | 2019 - 10%              |
| 2 nd step | 2035 - 30%                | 2037 - 20%                | 2024 - 40%              |
| 3 rd step | 2040 - 50%                | 2042 - 30%                | 2029 - 70%              |
| 4 th step |                           |                           | 2034 - 80%              |
| Plateau   | 2045 - 80%                | 2047 - 85%                | 2036 - 85%              |

* For Belarus, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan,  Tajikistan,  Uzbekistan  25%  HCFC component of baseline and different initial two steps (1) 5% reduction in 2020 and (2) 35% reduction in 2025

## Notes:

1.  Group 1: Article 5 parties not part of Group 2
2.  Group 2: GCC, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan
3.  Technology review in 2022 and every 5 years
4.  Technology review 4-5 years before 2028 to consider the compliance deferral of 2 years from the freeze of 2028 of Article 5 Group 2 to address growth in relevant sectors above certain threshold.