USA: China and India are expected to release vast amounts of HFC23 - a high GWP by-product of the production of the refrigerant R22 - into the atmosphere, according to a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency.
EIA investigators say they have discovered that many Chinese and Indian facilities, despite having destruction technology readily available, are releasing or threatening to emit the by-product, which has a GWP of 14,800, unless they receive additional financing to dispose of the chemicals. Plants that produce R22 in other developing countries could also do the same, says the EIA.
'Chinese and Indian companies are holding the world hostage by threatening to set off a climate bomb if they don't receive millions of dollars for the destruction of the HFC23 that they are producing,' said Mark Roberts, EIA's International policy advisor.
HFC23 has been the focus for the first emission reduction projects funded through the United Nation's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Under the UN programme, incinerators for HFC23 are installed at 19 refrigerant facilities, mostly in China and India but also in South Korea, Argentina and Mexico, to help control this potent greenhouse gas.
Destruction of HFC23 is extremely cheap, but the EIA accuses refrigerant companies of making billions of dollars from the sale of carbon credits, maximized through manipulation of HCFC22 and HFC23 production levels. Recognising this, the European Emissions Trading Scheme - the world's largest carbon market - banned the trade of HFC23 credits as of May 1, this year. Other carbon markets have followed suit, resulting in the collapse of the HFC23 credit market.