China is to blame for much of the increase in banned ozone-depleting substances (ODS) since 2013, according a study published by journal Nature, with domestic companies accused of violating a global ban.
At least 40 per cent of the global rise in the prohibited ozone-destroying refrigerant trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) could be attributed to the industrial provinces of Shandong and Hebei in northern China, researchers from the Australian CSIRO and University of Bristol said.
After studying atmospheric data from South Korea and Japan, they estimated CFC-11 emissions from eastern mainland China during the 2014-2017 period were around seven million kilograms per year higher than over 2008-2012.
CFC-11, once used in refrigerators and air conditioners, is one of the chemicals banned under the Montreal Protocol, a treaty to protect the earth's ozone layer by phasing out all global CFC production by 2010. CFC-11 in the atmosphere declined substantially until 2012 but has since rebounded.
China ratified the treaty in 1991 and it said last year it has already eliminated as much as 280,000 tonnes of annual ODS production capacity and was speeding up efforts to phase out other ozone-damaging chemicals.
But a report last year by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) claimed dozens of Chinese companies were still using CFC-11.
China launched a special inspection campaign into 3000 foam manufacturers across the country last year and promised to punish any violations of the Montreal treaty. It said in March that it had shut down two manufacturing spots that produced CFC-11 as part of the crackdown.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment said late on Thursday it had paid close attention to the unexpected rise in global CFC-11 levels reported last year.
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