Japanese representatives highlighted the importance of the life cycle management of fluorocarbon gases as a key factor in limiting their emissions and promoting sustainable cooling.
The representatives shared this message during a COP26 side event on November 10 titled “Sustainable and Efficient Cooling for a Warming Planet: Challenges, Opportunities, and Solutions.”
Japan’s “Initiative on Flurocarbons Life Cycle Management” (IFL) is an international initiative led by Japan to actively raising awareness and facilitate collaboration on policy, capacity building and f-gas destruction activities.
“Addressing the HFC [current] bank is especially crucial for climate change mitigation, not only in Japan, but in every country,” said Yurie Osawa, a Deputy Director at the Japan Ministry of the Environment’s Office of Fluorocarbons Control Policy. “Japan calls for the worldwide action on the life cycle management of fluorocarbons.”
In 2018, Japan ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for an 85% reduction in HFC production and consumption in developed nations by 2036.
While this IFL program promotes the introduction of “low-GWP and natural refrigerants,” they were not mentioned during the presentation.
Following the presentation by Osawa, Makoto Kato, Senior Researcher at the Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center, Japan, described the “Resource Book for the Life Cycle Management of Fluorocarbons,” which is being drafted by his organization and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. A link to the event details and a recording of the presentation can be found here.
