Kigali: Almost halfway to ratification

October 15 marked one year since the landmark Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol – which calls for a global phase-down of HFCs – was signed by 189 countries at a meeting of the parties in Rwanda.

But so far only nine countries had ratified the Kigali Amendment by that anniversary date. 

According to the Depositary, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, New York, the countries that have ratified the Kigali Amendment and deposited the instruments of ratification at the UN as of September 21, 2017 include: Mali, the Federate State of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Rwanda, Palau, Norway, Chile, Tuvalu, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

On October 18, the Slovak Spectator reported that Slovak president Andrej Kiska had signed the ratification deed of the Kigali Amendment. However, that ratification has not yet been recorded in the UN Depositary online list.

Larger entities such as the U.S., Japan, Canada, and numerous European countries have yet to ratify the amendment.

The Kigali Amendment will enter into force on January 1, 2019, provided that it is ratified by at least 20 parties to the Montreal Protocol. If that condition is not met by that date, the Amendment will become effective on the 90th day following the date of ratification by the 20th party.

Klára Skačanová, manager, market development, shecco, said that the delay in Europe could be due to the long and formal process required for each individual E.U. country to ratify.

"For the E.U., it is now down to individual countries to ratify, so it’s really just a formality, but it can still take time,” she said. “At the E.U. level this has been approved by the Parliament and the Council."

More ratifications are expected to be announced at a meeting of the Montreal Protocol in Montreal, Canada, next month.

The Kigali Amendment’s aim is to phase down production and use of HFCs to avoid 0.5°C of warming by 2100. It is regarded historic in scale, and, noted The New Times, “The most sensible first step toward reducing global emissions to prevent climate change from reaching catastrophic levels.”