F-GASES REGULATION AND HFCS

Early day motion 24, tabled 23 November 2004 by Tim Yeo (Conservative). Signed by 63 members.

That this House notes that hydrofluorocarbon chemicals (HFCs) used in refrigeration and air-conditioning have on average 2,274 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide; recalls the statement, firstly, in the UK Climate Change Programme that HFCs are not sustainable in the long-term, and secondly, by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Right honourable Member for Hull East on 9th March 2000, that the UK's plan for implementing the Kyoto Protocol included a clear signal to industry that HFC's have no long-term future; therefore expresses concern that in its Regulation on Certain Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases, the European Commission is in danger of missing the opportunity to accelerate the replacement of HFCs by alternatives; questions both the Commission's and the UK Government's reliance on a policy of HFC leakage containment; therefore welcomes the publication by Atlantic Consulting on 26th February of the report HFC Containment Has Already Failed, which calls into question the use of containment as a policy tool for controlling HFC emissions; and calls on the Government to act in accordance with its past commitments and the present evidence to ensure a phased ban of HFCs over the next 10 years.

Signatures by party: Conservative 54, Labour 3, DUP 2, Independent Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UUP 1.