Sean Sullivan
Mr. Ippolito
Biology D-Odd
17 October 2016
Davenport, Coral. "Nations, Fighting Powerful Refrigerant That Warms Planet, Reach Landmark Deal." New York Times. N.p., 15 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.
Global warming is an issue that affects everyone on the planet. World leaders came together in Kigali, Rwanda to suppress climate change and cool our planet. Leaders from over 170 countries on Saturday discussed hydrofluorocarbons, (HFC'c) and how they could eliminate the use of that chemical all together. Hydrofluorocarbons are cooling chemicals used in air conditioning units and refrigerants. HFC's are a very small percentage of greenhouse gases but they contain 1,000 times the heat trapping potency of carbon dioxide. Creating time restraints and deadlines for over 170 countries can be very challenging. Constant deals and compromises were made by these countries so they can reach a goal that satisfies them. They could not simply make a one deal solution where every country has to meet the requirement; instead they made three tracks by dividing the world economy.Rich countries such as the United States and European Union will freeze the production and consumption of HFC's by 2018 reducing them to 15 percent of 2012 levels by 2036.Much of the rest of the world, including China, Brazil and all of Africa, will freeze HFC use by 2024, reducing it to 20 percent of 2021 levels by 2045. Lastly the wolrds hottest countries like India, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will have a very leninet schedule for freezing HFC's. Their requirement is to freeze the use of HFC's by 2028 reducing the it to 15 percent of 2025 levels in 2047. The Kigali amendment is a very important and monumental deal. Following the Paris talks Kigali is, “an ambitious and far-reaching solution to this looming crisis," states President Obama. The Kigali accords are, “much, much, much stronger than Paris,” said Durwood Zaelke, the president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a research organization. “This is a mandatory treaty. Governments are obligated to comply.” Any country that does not comply will face sanctions against their country. The Kigali amendment is expected to reduce an equivalent of 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. Close to double the amount of carbon pollution produced annually by the whole world.
Through the Kigali accords we really see a great display of cooperation from more than 170 countries demonstrating the best of mankind. Climate change is a very slow condition but is deadly and we very close to being on the point of no return. “It’s a step toward ensuring the survival of our island,” said Mattlan Zackhras, the climate change minister of the Marshall Islands. Most African countries although being some of the hottest and poorest in the world are taking the mid level approach to freezing HFC's. This shows the severity that Africa is under and putting the benefit of society as a whole in front of economic capability. other countries such as India pushed against this deal, because their people are almost in reach of HFC air conditioners. Global warming treatise and negotiations have been happening for decades but the Kigali accords are some of the most influential. The Kigali accords push to amend one issue that could lower our carbon dioxide emissions rigorously
This article was very well written. It gave multiple statistics which led to real impact on the reader. The author compared this landmark deal with others made in the past giving some insight to how far we have come. He also brought up both sides of the argument, why some countries are pushing for this and others are not, identifying the key factors in their decision making and supporting that conclusion with quotes from the attending world leaders themselves. He also gave background info into the certain countries and how what is happening in their country may influence their deal. The author could have improved this article I believe by making his transitions better. At times I felt that the next paragraph was very out of order and random. If he improved his transitions than it would have been easier to follow ultimately making a better article.
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