Nations reach historic deal to reduce HFCs

A worldwide deal has been reached among 150 countries, to limit the use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are used in fridges, air conditioning and aerosol sprays.

The deal, which is an amendment to the Montreol Protocol, will see many developed countries start to cap and gradually reduce their use of HFCs by at least 10% from 2019.

Roughly 100 countries, including China and a number of Latin American countries, will stop using HFCs in 2024. India, Pakistan, Iran and some Gulf states will start their reduction in 2028 in order to allow their economies more time to grow.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped forge the deal in a series of meetings in the Rwandan capital, said it was a major victory for the Earth.

"We came to get a half a degree of warming out of the system and we are going to walk away with about 90% from the Kigali amendment," said Durwood Zaelke, from the Institute for Government and Sustainable Development (IGSD), a long time participant in the Montreal Protocol talks.