Developed countries to phase down greenhouse gas, by 2036: government

New Delhi: Developed countries have undertaken to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), a greenhouse gas, by 2036, Lok Sabha was informed today. "Under the Kigali amendment, the developed countries have undertaken to phase down HFCs by 2036 with reference to baseline years of 2011-2012-2013," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said during Question Hour on behalf of Environment Minister Anil Dave.

The Minister said it has been agreed that the developing countries will have a differentiated time schedule for such phase down. "There are two sets of baselines agreed for the purpose of phase down by developing countries while China and a few other countries will have 2020-2021-2022 as their baseline.

"India along with some of the developing countries will have 2024-2025-2026 as the baseline years, with a commitment to freeze the production and consumption in 2028. The freeze year can be deferred to 2030 subject to technology review," Javadekar said. The Minister said in addition to production and consumption of HFCs in the baseline year, 65 per cent of HFC baseline has been added to provide for adequate carbon space for development of the country.

India has undertaken to complete its phase down in 4 steps from 2032 onwards with cumulative reduction of 10 per cent in 2032, 20 per cent in 2037, 30 per cent in 2042 and 85 per cent in 2047. "This agreement facilitates adequate carbon space for growth on domestic industry while minimising the cost to the economy and consumers during transition period," he said.