Canada ratifies global agreement to reduce powerful greenhouse gases and heads to international climate change conference to urge climate action

November 7, 2017 – Gatineau, Quebec

Canada is now among the first countries to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which will phase down powerful greenhouse gases. This milestone demonstrates Canada’s bold action to ensure a sustainable planet for future generations.

Found in air conditioners and aerosols, hydrofluorocarbons—or HFCs—are thousands of times more powerful drivers of climate change than carbon dioxide. Each year, HFC sources emit the carbon-dioxide equivalent released by 300 coal-fired power plants. If left unchecked, HFCs could account for 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Canada was one of the first countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol in 1987, a historic international agreement that has eliminated over 99 percent of substances that were thinning the earth’s protective ozone layer.

By reducing HFCs, we will reduce the future impacts of climate change such as sea-level rise, droughts, and floods. Further, by phasing out HFCs and shifting to cleaner alternatives, scientists believe we could avoid half-a-degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century.

To succeed in phasing down HFCs, Canada recently published regulations to reduce its HFC consumption by 85 percent, by 2036. This measure not only upholds our commitment to the Kigali Amendment but to our made-in-Canada climate plan as well.

This week, the Canadian delegation heads to the 23^rd session of the Conference of the Parties, in Bonn, Germany, and Minister McKenna will join them from November 13 to 16. While in Bonn, the Minister and the delegation will work to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement and urge more countries to ratify the Kigali Amendment. A Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will be held November 20 to 24, in Montréal.

Canada continues to deliver on its commitment to working globally to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement, taking action to build a clean economy and create more opportunities for middle-class Canadians.