Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment

Ben W D Adam; Luke M Western; Jens Mühle; Haklim Choi; Paul B Krummel; Simon O'Doherty; T D S Young; Kieran M Stanley; Paul J.  Fraser; Christina M Harth; Peter K Salameh; Ray F Weiss; Ronald G M Prinn; Jooil Kim; Hyeri Park; Sunyoung Park; Matthew L Rigby

doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y

Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment

Ben W D Adam^*, Luke M Western, Jens Mühle, Haklim Choi, Paul B Krummel, Simon O'Doherty, T D S Young, Kieran M Stanley, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M Harth, Peter K Salameh, Ray F Weiss, Ronald G M Prinn, Jooil Kim, Hyeri Park, Sunyoung Park, Matthew L Rigby

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

HFC-23 (trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere primarily as a by-product of HCFC-22 (chlorodifluoromethane) synthesis. Since 2020, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol has required Parties to destroy their HFC-23 emissions to the extent possible. Here, we present updated HFC-23 emissions estimated from atmospheric observations. Globally, emissions fell to 14.0 ± 0.9 Gg yr^-1 in 2023 from their maximum in 2019 of 17.3 ± 0.8 Gg yr^-1, but remained five times higher than reported 2021 emissions. Atmospheric observation-based emissions for eastern China, the world’s largest HCFC-22 producer, were also found to be substantially higher than 2020-2022 reported emissions. We estimate that potential HFC-23 sources not directly linked to HCFC-22 production explain only a minor, albeit highly uncertain, fraction of this discrepancy. Our findings suggest that HFC-23 emissions have not been destroyed to the extent reported by the Parties since the implementation of the Kigali Amendment.

Original language	English
Article number	783
Number of pages	8
Journal	Communications Earth & Environment
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y
Publication status	Published - 21 Dec 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024.

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Adam, B. W. D., Western, L. M., Mühle, J., Choi, H., Krummel, P. B., O'Doherty, S., Young, T. D. S., Stanley, K. M., Fraser, P. J., Harth, C. M., Salameh, P. K., Weiss, R. F., Prinn, R. G. M., Kim, J., Park, H., Park, S., & Rigby, M. L. (2024). Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1), Article 783. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y

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title = "Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment",

abstract = "HFC-23 (trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere primarily as a by-product of HCFC-22 (chlorodifluoromethane) synthesis. Since 2020, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol has required Parties to destroy their HFC-23 emissions to the extent possible. Here, we present updated HFC-23 emissions estimated from atmospheric observations. Globally, emissions fell to 14.0 ± 0.9 Gg yr-1 in 2023 from their maximum in 2019 of 17.3 ± 0.8 Gg yr-1, but remained five times higher than reported 2021 emissions. Atmospheric observation-based emissions for eastern China, the world{\textquoteright}s largest HCFC-22 producer, were also found to be substantially higher than 2020-2022 reported emissions. We estimate that potential HFC-23 sources not directly linked to HCFC-22 production explain only a minor, albeit highly uncertain, fraction of this discrepancy. Our findings suggest that HFC-23 emissions have not been destroyed to the extent reported by the Parties since the implementation of the Kigali Amendment.",

author = "Adam, {Ben W D} and Western, {Luke M} and Jens M{\"u}hle and Haklim Choi and Krummel, {Paul B} and Simon O'Doherty and Young, {T D S} and Stanley, {Kieran M} and Fraser, {Paul J.} and Harth, {Christina M} and Salameh, {Peter K} and Weiss, {Ray F} and Prinn, {Ronald G M} and Jooil Kim and Hyeri Park and Sunyoung Park and Rigby, {Matthew L}",

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doi = "10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y",

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Adam, BWD, Western, LM, Mühle, J, Choi, H, Krummel, PB, O'Doherty, S, Young, TDS, Stanley, KM, Fraser, PJ, Harth, CM, Salameh, PK, Weiss, RF, Prinn, RGM, Kim, J, Park, H, Park, S & Rigby, ML 2024, 'Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment', Communications Earth & Environment, vol. 5, no. 1, 783. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment

AU - Adam, Ben W D

AU - Western, Luke M

AU - Mühle, Jens

AU - Choi, Haklim

AU - Krummel, Paul B

AU - O'Doherty, Simon

AU - Young, T D S

AU - Stanley, Kieran M

AU - Fraser, Paul J.

AU - Harth, Christina M

AU - Salameh, Peter K

AU - Weiss, Ray F

AU - Prinn, Ronald G M

AU - Kim, Jooil

AU - Park, Hyeri

AU - Park, Sunyoung

AU - Rigby, Matthew L

PY - 2024/12/21

Y1 - 2024/12/21

N2 - HFC-23 (trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere primarily as a by-product of HCFC-22 (chlorodifluoromethane) synthesis. Since 2020, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol has required Parties to destroy their HFC-23 emissions to the extent possible. Here, we present updated HFC-23 emissions estimated from atmospheric observations. Globally, emissions fell to 14.0 ± 0.9 Gg yr-1 in 2023 from their maximum in 2019 of 17.3 ± 0.8 Gg yr-1, but remained five times higher than reported 2021 emissions. Atmospheric observation-based emissions for eastern China, the world’s largest HCFC-22 producer, were also found to be substantially higher than 2020-2022 reported emissions. We estimate that potential HFC-23 sources not directly linked to HCFC-22 production explain only a minor, albeit highly uncertain, fraction of this discrepancy. Our findings suggest that HFC-23 emissions have not been destroyed to the extent reported by the Parties since the implementation of the Kigali Amendment.

AB - HFC-23 (trifluoromethane) is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere primarily as a by-product of HCFC-22 (chlorodifluoromethane) synthesis. Since 2020, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol has required Parties to destroy their HFC-23 emissions to the extent possible. Here, we present updated HFC-23 emissions estimated from atmospheric observations. Globally, emissions fell to 14.0 ± 0.9 Gg yr-1 in 2023 from their maximum in 2019 of 17.3 ± 0.8 Gg yr-1, but remained five times higher than reported 2021 emissions. Atmospheric observation-based emissions for eastern China, the world’s largest HCFC-22 producer, were also found to be substantially higher than 2020-2022 reported emissions. We estimate that potential HFC-23 sources not directly linked to HCFC-22 production explain only a minor, albeit highly uncertain, fraction of this discrepancy. Our findings suggest that HFC-23 emissions have not been destroyed to the extent reported by the Parties since the implementation of the Kigali Amendment.

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y

DO - 10.1038/s43247-024-01946-y

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 39717369

SN - 2662-4435

VL - 5

JO - Communications Earth & Environment

JF - Communications Earth & Environment

IS - 1

M1 - 783

ER -

Emissions of HFC-23 do not reflect commitments made under the Kigali Amendment

Abstract

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