The world’s 197 nations have finalised a landmark pact in Rwanda’s Kigali to combat global warming by phasing out industrial gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) currently used in air-conditioners and refrigerators.
The Kigali agreement gives India 10 years to prepare its industry to shift from HFCs to alternatives that are now expensive and could mean higher prices for consumers.
"We were flexible, accommodative and ambitious," Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave said after the agreement which seeks to cut global levels of HFCs by 85 per cent by 2045, with different sets of schedules and timetables for developed and developing countries. India gets two more years (2047).
US President Barack Obama called the deal "an ambitious and far-reaching solution to this looming crisis".
Analysts have also expressed satisfaction. "This is the single most important measure the global community could take to limit global warming in the short term," said Andrew Light, an analyst at the Washington-based World Resources Institute.
But some analysts and industry representatives cautioned that the pact should be viewed only as the start of a process to shift towards alternatives. They said the process would demand finance, new manufacturing initiatives and more negotiations with developed countries to access inexpensive alternatives to HFCs.
Please click here to read more.