Sierra Club Celebrates Ratification of Kigali Amendment

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Senate voted 69-27 to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, finalizing the amendment that was first agreed upon by 150 nations in 2016. The Kigali Amendment aims to phase out the use of dangerous hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potentially avoiding half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century. Hydrofluorocarbons have become the fastest-growing greenhouse gasses in the U.S. and are emitted annually at a rate exceeding 150 million metric tons of CO2 — the equivalent emissions of about 40 coal-fired power plants. 

President Biden began the process of ratifying the Kigali Amendment in his January 2021 Executive Order and Congress passed an HFC Amendment to the American Energy Innovation Act in 2020 that required the EPA to implement an 85 percent phase-down of the production and consumption of HFCs, so they reach approximately 15 percent of their 2011-2013 average annual levels by 2036. This reduction level aligned with the US commitment to the Kigali Amendment.

In response, Cherelle Blazer, the Sierra Club’s International Climate and Policy Campaign Director, issued the following statement: 

“The Sierra Club applauds Senate Leadership, Chairman Carper, and Chairman Menendez for championing this bipartisan process and taking meaningful steps to move us toward a more stable climate and a clean energy economy. Ratifying the Kigali Amendment ensures the US will join the rest of the world in phasing out the use of HFCs and will ultimately help to prevent a critical half degree of warming. This is the type of climate action and leadership the world needs, and we look forward to the Biden Administration and Congress building on this momentum and doing everything in their power to avert the climate crisis and transition away from outdated dirty energy.”