By Liz Whiteley, NASRC Executive Director
NASRC was recently accepted as an Actor in the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), a voluntary international framework focused on taking action to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). We're excited to get involved and do our part by supporting the transition out of HFCs and into natural refrigerants.
What are SLCPs?
They are pollutants that impact human health, agriculture, ecosystems and our climate—SLCPs include methane, black carbon and, you guessed it, HFCs. While NASRC does not take an anti-HFC stance, we exist in order to advance natural refrigerants. The reason we care about advancing naturals is because their environmental impact is only a tiny fraction of that of many HFCs. With natural refrigerants we have the opportunity to drastically reduce the environmental impact of commercial refrigeration.
HFC emissions constitute a significant and growing percentage of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The good news (sort of) is that HFCs are considered “short-lived,” so while they they are potent greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, their atmospheric lifetimes are relatively short. This means that reducing HFCs emission (like by transitioning to natural refrigerants) can have significant near-term climate benefits.
What does CCAC do?
CCAC is focused on “concrete and substantial action to accelerate efforts to reduce SLCPs.” When it comes to reducing HFC emissions, the CCAC has an initiative dedicated specifically to advancing HFC alternatives and promoting standards that allow those alternatives, like natural refrigerants, to succeed.
Check out the CCAC brochure or visit CCAC’s HFC initiative webpage
What it means to be an Actor
Governments at all levels, IGOs, NGOs like NASRC and even private sector companies are encouraged to support specific Coalition initiatives as Actors. “Actors in the Coalition constitute a network of active stakeholders with experience and expertise relevant to specific initiatives or activities of the Coalition.” Sounds to me like NASRC, with our diverse membership of industry leaders, is a pretty good fit.
Want to get involved? Email liz.whiteley@nasrc.org