For 11 years we have led efforts to phase out industrial gases that, when released, deplete the ozone layer and act as powerful global warming agents. Our worldwide undercover investigations of the lucrative illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – used in refrigerants and banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol treaty – have helped to close down much of this underground trade.

More recently, our investigations into the chemical trade have exposed an untapped opportunity in the battle against climate change: the elimination of HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). These widely used commercial refrigerant gases can be nearly 12,000 times more powerful in warming the atmosphere than equivalent amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas.

The HFC Imperative, a [ report ] released July 10, 2009, details how the Montreal Protocol has been extremely successful in enabling the phase-out of ozone depleting substances (ODS). Yet as a result of these phase-outs, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have been commercialized as substitutes for ODS. The HFCs being used as ODS substitutes are powerful greenhouse gases with global-warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2). Recent scientific evidence indicates that GWP-weighted HFC emissions alone could equate to as much as 45% of CO2 emissions by 2050, thus eclipsing efforts to redress global warming.

A [ legal briefing ] written in 2008 lays the groundwork for establishing the Montreal Protocol as the ideal forum in which to phase-out HFCs as their adoption has increased as a direct result of Montreal Protocol actions to phase-out CFCs. The briefing describes actions for the parties to take, particularly to bring HFCs under regulation within the Montreal Protocol and set deadlines for their phase out.

Our pioneering work has received recognition and awards from many quarters, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations Environment Program.
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EIA’s campaign and advocacy work highlighting the role of refrigerant HCFCs and HFCs as powerful global warmers has influenced U.S. leadership in efforts to accelerate the international phaseout of these dangerous chemicals.

In the mid 1990’s, EIA exposed a major illegal trade network, involving CFCs and cocaine, in Florida. An inter-agency task force, headed by the Department of Justice, was subsequently established to clamp down on CFC smuggling into and within the United States. EIA was the primary NGO partner.

In recent years EIA has exposed the role of U.S. strawberry producers in stockpiling and resisting phaseout of methyl bromide – a toxic fumigant and highly potent ozone-depleting chemical. EIA’s public education and advocacy work on the dangers of skin cancer due to ozone layer depletion helped to limit U.S. exemptions to a 2005 international deadline for phasing out methyl bromide use.
2005: [ read report ]
2006: [ read report ]