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The Maldives have pledged to phase out HCFCs 20 years ahead of schedule. The decision is in line with the island group endeavour to become the first carbon neutral country by 2020.

The Montreal Protocol stipulates the complete phase-out of hydrochloroflurocarbons (HCFCs) for developing countries by 2040. The Maldives' aim to be HCFC-free by 2020 already is motivated by their precarious situation. Scientists have warned that if global carbon emissions are not drastically reduced and climate change continues, the archipelago making up the Maldives will sink beneath the rising sea level.

Opportunities for natural refrigerants

The phase-out of HCFCs which are mainly used in refrigeration, including air-conditioning units, refrigerators and a wide variety of manufacturing processes, demands of course their replacement with alternative substances. Countries which in the past converted from HCFCs, passed mostly over to HFCs, gases that do not damage the ozone layer but still contribute heavily to climate change. In the light of this evidence, the Maldives have the opportunity to leapfrog the only temporary solution of replacing HCFCs with HFCs and move directly to natural refrigerants such as ammonia which has a global warming potential of zero.