India pledges to phase out HCFCs by 2030

India has said it will phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030 and will seek international funding and technology to meet the target.

"We are going to freeze the use of HCFCs at 2009 levels by 2013. We are going to mitigate their use by 10 per cent by 2015 as compared to 2009 levels and bring it to zero by 2030," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said earlier this week, in a move designed to further underline India's commitment to addressing climate change ahead of the crucial Copenhagen talks in December.

The refrigerant gas, used in air conditioners and refrigerators, is a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG) and has also been blamed for depleting the ozone layer.

Ministry figures show that India's consumption of HCFCs has more than tripled since 2001. It is expected to rise further – reaching 27,103 tonnes in 2015, up from just 3,792 tonnes in 1994 – as the nation's economic development and growing middle class leads to rising demand for consumer, commercial and industrial products.

Ramesh admitted that the government is "still clueless [as to] what technology we will use and from where will we get funds to meet the challenges" , adding that it will be seeking help from rich nations to ensure the new targets are met.

The announcement is seen as a bargaining chip to be used at December’s UN climate change talks, where India is widely expected to ask for billions of dollars in international assistance to fund projects to help curb its GHG emissions.

To date, the nation has received about $350m (£218m) from the $2bn Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which was set up in 1991 to provide technical and financial assistance to developing countries to phase out ozone-depleting substances (ODS), such as HCFCs.

Signed in 1987 by 195 nations, the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to phase out ODS. India, which has signed the treaty, hopes that a similar pact will transpire in Copenhagen, "where developed nations give a commitment to provide funds", said Ramesh.

He noted that use of ODS such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had been phased out on the subcontinent since August 2008, 17 months ahead of the agreed schedule under its commitments to the multilateral fund.

However, the CFCs used in the manufacture of asthma inhalers are still available in India, although the government is working on a plan to eliminate their use by 2013.