To reduce HFC emissions, countries in different parts of the globe will have an agreement in 2019.
Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) is one of the environment's greatest pollutants. It is emitted by air conditioners and refrigerators.
The Associated Press said that to help reduce HFC there will be an agreement between countries including United States and China.
"This agreement will test our global will. This will be another milestone for the countries following the Paris Agreement for cutting carbon emissions last year," the news site reported.
Clare Perry of the Environmental Investigation Agency said that there's a need for a compromise. She also said that 85 percent of developing committed to have a reduced HFC by 2024.
India, Pakistan and the Middle East agreed to push the agreement in 2028 to allow economic growth in these countries. David Doniger of Natural Resources Defense Council explained that this commitment is similar to stopping CO2 emissions for two years.
Since then, countries have debated how long until HFC will be detrimental to the environment. Some countries like Africa is lobbying for a quicker action stating that they will be the one greatly affected by the climate change.
It became a substitute for ozone-depleting gasses in the 1980s. However, they started polluting the atmosphere when sales of refrigerators and air conditioners sky rocketed, Yahoo News reported.
They explained that HFC is less detrimental than carbon dioxide but they emit pollution the rate 300 coal-fired power plants do. The researchers believe that this will have a significant effect in the environment in the near future.
They also said that HFC doesn't have the same harmful effects in the ozone layer like chlorofluorocarbons that were eliminated on the Montreal Protocol that was signed in 1987.
The protocol was created to repair the ozone layer that blocks the UV rise from the sun. The new agreement will be an amendment to the protocol.
