SINGAPORE: Giant quantities of climate-warming refrigerant gases from China and Turkey are being smuggled illegally into Europe, undermining a world pact to part them out, a report by the London-based Environmental Investigation Company (EIA) mentioned on Monday.
The gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a variety of chemical compounds used largely for cooling in business and retail, which don’t injury the ozone layer like different banned refrigerants, however as greenhouse gases could be a number of thousand occasions stronger than carbon dioxide.
Regardless of commitments to cut back HFC use, legislation enforcement companies throughout the European Union are struggling to maintain monitor of illicit shipments getting into by way of Turkey, Russia or Ukraine, with smugglers resorting to more and more refined techniques to evade detection, the EIA mentioned following a two-year undercover investigation.
“It is nonetheless fairly simple to seek out unlawful HFCs within the European market,” mentioned Fin Walravens, a senior EIA campaigner. “There are indicators that merchants are adapting their strategies, that they’re getting a little bit of savvy making an attempt to evade authorities.”
“In the event you can sneak in probably the most polluting, nastiest gasoline, you are principally getting the largest buck.”
As a part of the 2016 Kigali modification to the Montreal Protocol, European and different industrial international locations are dedicated to slash HFC use by 85% from 2012 to 2036. To make the phase-down occur, authorised HFC producers and shoppers are assigned quotas which can be diminished step by step.
However with demand nonetheless robust, the phase-downs have pushed up costs, creating incentives for smugglers – lots of whom are additionally licensed merchants – to make extra provide out there, the report confirmed.
“It’s so a lot simpler when you’re licensed to simply exceed your quota: it’s so onerous to show,” mentioned Walravens. “The phase-down is supposed to make HFCs costly and make folks assume alternate options are higher and more economical, but when unlawful commerce is available in and is offered at half the value, the entire system crumbles.”
A 2021 EIA investigation urged unlawful HFCs smuggled into Europe may quantity to 20-30% of legally traded volumes, the equal of as much as 30 million tons of CO2. The brand new report didn’t give a revised estimate, however Walravens mentioned “little or no has modified”.
China is the world’s greatest HFC producer, with 39 authorised producers granted manufacturing permits equal to 185 million tons of CO2 this 12 months. It issued new guidelines in December to punish corporations that exceed their quotas.
Even when various merchandise can be found, implementing chemical phase-outs has been a significant problem, with some governments “unable or unwilling to crack down”, mentioned Ian Rae of the College of Melbourne, who was a technical adviser to the Montreal Protocol.
“There all the time appears to be demand from prospects who’ve been proud of the outdated product and reluctant to alter to the brand new, which could be dearer,” he mentioned.
The gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a variety of chemical compounds used largely for cooling in business and retail, which don’t injury the ozone layer like different banned refrigerants, however as greenhouse gases could be a number of thousand occasions stronger than carbon dioxide.
Regardless of commitments to cut back HFC use, legislation enforcement companies throughout the European Union are struggling to maintain monitor of illicit shipments getting into by way of Turkey, Russia or Ukraine, with smugglers resorting to more and more refined techniques to evade detection, the EIA mentioned following a two-year undercover investigation.
“It is nonetheless fairly simple to seek out unlawful HFCs within the European market,” mentioned Fin Walravens, a senior EIA campaigner. “There are indicators that merchants are adapting their strategies, that they’re getting a little bit of savvy making an attempt to evade authorities.”
“In the event you can sneak in probably the most polluting, nastiest gasoline, you are principally getting the largest buck.”
As a part of the 2016 Kigali modification to the Montreal Protocol, European and different industrial international locations are dedicated to slash HFC use by 85% from 2012 to 2036. To make the phase-down occur, authorised HFC producers and shoppers are assigned quotas which can be diminished step by step.
However with demand nonetheless robust, the phase-downs have pushed up costs, creating incentives for smugglers – lots of whom are additionally licensed merchants – to make extra provide out there, the report confirmed.
“It’s so a lot simpler when you’re licensed to simply exceed your quota: it’s so onerous to show,” mentioned Walravens. “The phase-down is supposed to make HFCs costly and make folks assume alternate options are higher and more economical, but when unlawful commerce is available in and is offered at half the value, the entire system crumbles.”
A 2021 EIA investigation urged unlawful HFCs smuggled into Europe may quantity to 20-30% of legally traded volumes, the equal of as much as 30 million tons of CO2. The brand new report didn’t give a revised estimate, however Walravens mentioned “little or no has modified”.
China is the world’s greatest HFC producer, with 39 authorised producers granted manufacturing permits equal to 185 million tons of CO2 this 12 months. It issued new guidelines in December to punish corporations that exceed their quotas.
Even when various merchandise can be found, implementing chemical phase-outs has been a significant problem, with some governments “unable or unwilling to crack down”, mentioned Ian Rae of the College of Melbourne, who was a technical adviser to the Montreal Protocol.
“There all the time appears to be demand from prospects who’ve been proud of the outdated product and reluctant to alter to the brand new, which could be dearer,” he mentioned.
