On the occasion of World Ozone Day, India released its cooling action plan to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a major refrigerant widely used in all cooling equipment like air-conditions, freeze, foam applications, etc.It is a major gas which is contributing to rapid depletion of the Ozone layer and warming climate.CFCs are nearly 2,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of their global warming potential. Because of this, the world has come together to phase out the CFC by 2040 at their 28th Meeting of the Parties on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda under the Montreal Protocol.To phase out CFC, the Indian government has brought the Indian Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) document to phase out demand for refrigerants by 2037-38. It recommends an integrated approach to meet cooling requirements across the sectors including the Ministry of Road and Transport, Highway, Ministry of Power, Urban Development and others.It has primarily recommended strengthening public mobility infrastructure like metro, trains and buses to discourage personal vehicles in Tier 2&3 cities. Further, it recommends the adoption of potential low global warming potential (GWP) and energy efficiency alternatives to be worked out.
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