EU reaches deal on exit schedule from climate-wrecking F-gases

(EurActiv, 5 Oct 2023) Lawmakers in Brussels have agreed on the dates by which heat pumps and electrical equipment must ditch fluorinated gases and switch to more climate-friendly alternatives.

F-gases account for about 2.5% of EU greenhouse gas emissions. Among the worst of them, SF6 is 25,000 times worse for the climate than CO2 – and the bloc has committed to phasing all of them out rapidly via the Montreal treaty and its Kigali amendment.

Yet, F-gases are also vital to the functioning of crucial technologies: heat pumps and switchgear for electrical systems.

This made negotiations politically fraught, with the Green’s lead negotiator Bas Eickhout pushing for more than EU countries were willing to give. Talks in July collapsed as a result.

Those issues have since been ironed out and negotiators were able to close the deal in record time on Thursday (5 October).

“We’ve reached an ambitious deal that would end F-gases,” said Eickhout , who was the lead negotiator for the European Parliament during talks with EU member states.

Spain’s Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, whose country negotiated on behalf of the 27 EU countries, said she was “extremely satisfied” with the outcome.

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EurActiv, 5 Oct 2023: EU reaches deal on exit schedule from climate-wrecking F-gases