WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) today urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to send the “Kigali Amendment” to the full Senate for ratification. 

The Kigali Amendment would include a global phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are greenhouse gases.

“Ratification of the Kigali Amendment will further open up global markets to American-made products and will allow the federal government to further prevent illegal Chinese dumping of HFCs in the United States, which hurts U.S. businesses,” the senators wrote.

“Similarly, to the AIM Act, ratification of the Kigali Amendment is broadly supported across industry and environmental stakeholders, because these groups know ratification will be good for our economy, our planet, and our communities,” they continued.

Background on the Kigali Amendment

• In 2016, more than 170 countries agreed to the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which requires an 85 percent phase down in HFCs over the next 15 years.
• HFCs have thousands of times more heat-trapping potential than carbon dioxide, and the Kigali Amendment is widely seen as crucial to limiting global temperature rises in the coming decades.
• Beginning in 2033, the amendment will restrict trade between countries that have joined the agreement and those that have not.
• The Kigali Amendment has strong support from the U.S. business community and non-governmental organizations.
• China and India ratified the Kigali Amendment in the summer of 2021, and China is the world’s largest consumer and exporter of HFC products.
• U.S. ratification of the amendment would advance American interests by helping the U.S. remain a leader in the development and deployment of HFC alternatives.
• U.S. ratification will help generate 33,000 new American manufacturing jobs, increase America’s overall share of the global export market, and improve America’s balance of trade annually by $12.5 billion.

Background on the AIM Act

• Kennedy authored the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which became law in December 2020. The AIM Act gave American businesses a 15-year timeline for the phasedown of HFCs, which are commonly used in products such as refrigerators and air conditioners.
• The AIM Act defends jobs in the state of Louisiana and adds new ones by helping businesses and chemical plants in Geismar, Baton Rouge and St. Gabriel to transition to the use of safer coolants.

• The international heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration market is expected to more than double over the next decade. The AIM Act allows Louisiana to stay relevant in the global market for manufacturing jobs. 

Read more about how the AIM Act benefits the environment and Louisiana jobs here.

The letter is available here.