Sickening story in the FT about climate credit dispute for a chemical 15,000 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. Some 19 factories – 11 in China — are creating the chemical as a byproduct of manufacturing and incinerating it.
The companies were given climate credits for the incineration but European officials cut off credits last month because they said the financial incentive drove companies to produce more of the chemical instead of curbing it.
The companies are now threatening to stop incineration and vent the chemicals directly into the atmosphere.
“If all of these facilities [under the CDM] join China’s non-CDM and vent their HFC-23, they will set off a climate bomb emitting more than 2bn tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2020,” the EIA said.
