text: A nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
  Search
  Go To
  Fix
  Support Us
  Subscribe
  About
  Advertise
  Become a Member
  Events
  Topics
  Politics
  Energy
  Equity
  Culture
  All Topics
  Follow us on Facebook
  Follow us on Twitter
  Follow us on Instagram
  Follow us on YouTube
  Get your daily dose of good climate news to your inbox
  Email
  Submit
  Δ
  Republish this article | See instructions below:
  India blocking efforts to save planet from climate-killing air conditioners
  John Upton
  Published
  Oct 24, 2013
  Topic
  Climate + Technology
  Read Original Article
  HTML
  PLAIN TEXT
  COPY
  India blocking efforts to save planet from climate-killing air conditioners
  Shutterstock
  Has India tossed out the Kama Sutra and come up with another way of screwing the world?
  The country is getting in the way of international efforts to protect the climate by phasing out HFCs.
  HFCs have become popular coolants since CFCs were phased out under the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 treaty to protect the ozone layer. Today, more than 100 million air conditioners use HFCs in the U.S. alone, and lots of fridges too. The switch from CFCs to HFCs helped save the ozone layer, but it turns out that HFCs are terrible for the climate. And as the ozone heals but the weather goes bonkers, world leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Chinese President Xi Jinping have been pledging to work together to stamp out the use of HFCs.
  India’s leaders have publicly voiced support for efforts to ban the use of HFCs by amending the Montreal Protocol. But when it came to crunch time during meetings in Bangkok this week, the nation’s negotiators prevented formal discussion of making any such changes. From Bloomberg:
  India is blocking an international plan to reduce the polluting gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators, saying negotiators are trying to use the wrong treaty to bring about changes.
  International envoys have sought to bypass log-jammed United Nations climate-treaty talks by handing responsibility for reducing hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, to the Montreal Protocol. That’s an instrument designed to protect the ozone layer rather than the climate.
  India’s envoys tried to strike proposed amendments to the protocol from the agenda of a week-long meeting in Bangkok, according to David Doniger, a policy director at the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council. After failing to do so, they’ve blocked formal talks on two planned amendments, allowing only informal discussions on how to manage the gases, he said.
  India’s The Hindu newspaper reports that the country’s negotiators are worried about the costs of replacing HFC-based cooling systems:
  The Indian government had internally expressed apprehensions that Indian industry would be pushed to buy proprietary technology from companies in the U.S. and elsewhere at a very high cost to make the transition without adequate financial support. …
  A source in the Indian negotiating team on the issue told The Hindu, “We have asked the U.S. to provide us data and information on the economics of making the technological shift but as yet they have not come back with the information.”
  He added, “Unless there is clarity on the costs and technological changes involved at the bilateral task force, we cannot expect our position to change.”
  Though India has been the main obstructionist, it hasn’t been the only country to shy away this week from plans to tweak the Montreal Protocol. Brazil and China have also been causing some problems during negotiations, The Hindu reports.
  Our goal at Grist is to tell stories about climate solutions and a just future. That means we love when other outlets share our work. If you’re interested in republishing this story online or in print, we just have a few requirements:
  Credit us.
  For the byline, we prefer Author Name, Grist. At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.”
  Check the image requirements.
  Photos sourced from Getty Images in our pieces can be republished as long as Grist is also credited. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from Grist and/or the photographer.
  Don’t change anything significant.
  You can change the headline and/or subheading, but articles must be republished in their entirety. It’s ok to change references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) or location (“Iowa City, IA” to “here”). If you really think changing the story with additional localized copy would help, please contact us directly and we can discuss the change. We must approve the change before it goes live.
  Don’t sell our stories.
  We also ask that you don’t sell ads specifically meant to be placed in our stories. If you already have ads populating on your site, that’s completely fine.
  Use SEO best practices.
  We require you to set the republished article webpage as noindex on your website. You can view Google’s guidelines on how to make a webpage noindex here.
  Keep in contact.
  Let us know if you republish our content! As a nonprofit news site, tracking the impact of our reporting and analysis is crucial. We’d love to hear more about how the work was useful to you and your outlet. And on the off chance that we ask you to remove the story from your site or apply a correction, please do so.
  Use best practices for sharing.
  If you do share the story on your social media accounts, we’d love it if you tagged Grist’s accounts:
  Twitter: @Grist
  Facebook: @Grist.org
  Instagram: @Grist
  Modal Gallery
  /
  The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Donate today to help keep Grist’s site and newsletters free. All donations TRIPLED for a limited time.
  Support Grist
  Topics
  Energy
  Politics
  Ask Umbra
  Company
  About
  Team
  Contact
  Careers
  Fellowships
  Pressroom
  DEIJ
  More
  Fix
  Events
  Visionaries Bureau
  Become a Member
  Advertising
  Republish
  Accessibility
  Sustainability
  As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattle’s vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Known as one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world, since it opened its doors on Earth Day in 2013 the Bullitt Center has been setting a new standard for sustainable design.
  © 1999-2022 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. Design and build by Upstatement. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
  Follow us on Facebook
  Follow us on Twitter
  Follow us on Instagram
  Follow us on YouTube
  Grist.org uses cookies for enhanced user experience, and for analyzing the site's performance and traffic. Grist may share information about your use of our website with social media partners and analytics partners. Privacy Policy