Climate - More Chilling Than Ever - Tackling Europe’s ongoing illegal trade in HFC climate

The gradual reduced from their peak, the market price of HFCs in phase-down of HFCs under the Kigali Amendment will the EU remains significantly higher than that of HFCs avoid up to half a degree of warming by the end of the outside the EU, particularly in comparison to global south century. [...] In 2021, EIA estimated that the The challenges experienced within the EU serve carbon-dioxide equivalency (CO2e) of illegally traded as a warning to the rest of the world as they phase HFCs in the EU could be as high as 30 million tonnes down HFCs. [...] In 2022, a Romanian media outlet points of entry for illegal HFCs into the EU, with the reported that some of the cases highlighted by EIA had gases originating from China via Russia and Ukraine been referred to a provincial court,7 but despite requests in the north-east, and from Türkiye and Albania in the to the Romanian Government for further information, south-east.5 In 2021, after increased e. [...] Smugglers used a variety of had a legal quota) to bulk-buy non-quota gas from methods, including opening and closing transits many outside the EU which they would then split into smaller times in order to confuse the trail of the goods and often batches to try to bring across the border.14 Illegal traders declaring the goods as having exited the EU, when in fact continue to use these smuggling met. [...] Once placed on the single market, HFCs can EIA believes the use of maximum fines is travel around the EU with no requirement to insufficient and Member States need to enact demonstrate the quota associated with the HFC minimum fines and consider custodial sentences in question and there is no way for enforcement at a consistent level across the EU to ensure authorities to prove that the HFCs are q.