Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on climate change of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants; and what plans he has to improve arrangements for the (a) management, (b) recycling and (c) disposal of such refrigerants.

The Government estimates that hydrofluorocarbon emissions from refrigeration and air conditioning made up around 2.5% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, when gases are compared using their global warming potentials (GWPs). The UK greenhouse gas inventory uses the GWPs for individual hydrofluorocarbons from table 2.14 of Volume One (the Physical Science Basis) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 4, as agreed by decision 9/CP.2 of the Conference of Parties.

The UK was one of the earliest countries to ratify the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol relating to hydrofluorocarbons and regulations are already in place regarding the phase down of their usage as well as controls on their management, disposal and recycling. A review is expected in 2022.