{"id":71220,"date":"2026-04-10T20:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=71220"},"modified":"2026-04-10T20:17:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:47:29","slug":"phasing-down-hydrofluorocarbons-hfcs-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-04-2026\/phasing-down-hydrofluorocarbons-hfcs-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Phasing Down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Government of India has directed that no new environmental clearances will be granted for hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production projects beyond December 31, 2027.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is aligned with India\u2019s commitments under the <strong>Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Under the Kigali Amendment<\/strong>, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will phase down production and consumption of <strong>Hydrofluorocarbons, <\/strong>commonly known as <strong>HFCs.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hydrofluorocarbons were introduced as <strong>non-ozone depleting alternatives<\/strong> to Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>While<strong> HFCs do not deplete the stratospheric ozone layer,<\/strong> they have high <strong>global warming<\/strong> potential ranging from <strong>12 to 14,000<\/strong>, which have adverse impact on climate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hence Parties to the Montreal Protocol, reached agreement at their <strong>28th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) held in in Kigali, Rwanda<\/strong> to add HFCs to the list of controlled substances and approved a timeline for their gradual reduction by <strong>80-85 per cent by the late 2040s.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India<\/strong> will complete its phase down of HFCs in <strong>4 steps<\/strong> from <strong>2032<\/strong> onwards with cumulative reduction of <strong>10% in 2032, 20% in 2037, 30% in 2042 and 85% in 2047.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is an Ozone Layer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> ozone layer<\/strong> is a trace gas in the <strong>stratosphere,<\/strong> one of the <strong>four layers of the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is found between <strong>15 to 35 kilometers<\/strong> above Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ozone creation: <\/strong>Ozone is composed of <strong>three atoms of Oxygen.<\/strong>The production of ozone in the stratosphere results primarily from the breaking of the chemical bonds within oxygen molecules (O2) by high-energy solar photons.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This process, called <strong>photodissociation,<\/strong> results in the release of single oxygen atoms, which later join with intact oxygen molecules to form ozone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Good and Bad Ozone: Stratospheric ozone (Good Ozone)<\/strong> is formed naturally through the interaction of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation with molecular oxygen (O2).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (Bad Ozone)<\/strong>, what humans breathe, is formed primarily from photochemical reactions between (VOC &amp; NOX).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance: <\/strong>It functions as a protective gas shield that <strong>absorbs ultraviolet radiation<\/strong>, protecting humans and ecosystems from dangerous amounts of UV radiation causing skin cancers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"5ea1b8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"730\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-67.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-71221\" style=\"--dominant-color: #5ea1b8; width:438px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-67.png 730w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-67-300x187.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conventions for Protection of Ozone layer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Vienna Convention: <\/strong>&nbsp;First convention for the protection of the Ozone layer.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To promote cooperation among nations by exchanging information on the effects of human activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Montreal Protocol:<\/strong> It is a legally binding treaty adopted in <strong>1987,<\/strong> on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. It is the first United Nations treaty to achieve <strong>universal ratification<\/strong>, with all <strong>198 UN member<\/strong> states as parties.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India<\/strong> became a Party to the Montreal Protocol in <strong>1992.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It successfully <strong>phased out ozone-depleting substances <\/strong>such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kigali Agreement:<\/strong> Around 197 countries agreed at Kigali to reduce the use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 85% of their baselines by the late 2040s, by amending the 1987 Montreal Protocol.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India ratified the <strong>Kigali Amendment in 2021.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government should <strong>promote research and development <\/strong>in alternative refrigerants with low global warming potential.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There must be provisions for <strong>financial incentives and policy support<\/strong> to industries for smooth transition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India should strengthen international cooperation for<strong> technology transfer and climate finance.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/no-new-clearances-for-production-of-refrigerant-gases-after-2027-centre-10626689\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The Government of India has directed that no new environmental clearances will be granted for hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production projects beyond December 31, 2027.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Under the Kigali Amendment, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will phase down production and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons, commonly known as HFCs.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Hydrofluorocarbons were introduced as non-ozone depleting alternatives to Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">WhileHFCs do not deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, they have high global warming potential ranging from 12 to 14,000, which have adverse impact on climate.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-04-2026\/phasing-down-hydrofluorocarbons-hfcs-in-india\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71220"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71236,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71220\/revisions\/71236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}