Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) explains the merits of his proposed amendment to the Kigali accord on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Sept. 21. Lee’s colleagues passed his proposal on the strength of a 96-member voice vote.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has voted to ratify a key international climate agreement, but not before handing Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) a victory in the battle to reduce unfair competition by China.
“We know China ignores the rules and has little respect for international norms,” Lee said Sept. 21 while introducing his proposed amendment to the Kigali Amendment to the 2016 Montreal Protocol. “Yet we continue to allow them to dominate markets with the financial support of American taxpayer dollars.”
Lee proposed to end that practice by “…declaring that China is not a developing county and should not be treated by the United Nations or other intergovernmental organizations as such.”
In a rare display of unanimity, the U.S. Senate passed Lee’s amendment by a unanimous voice vote. The chamber then produced to ratify Kigali Amendment by a 69 to 27 vote.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol of 2016 is a binding agreement to reduce the production and use of hydro-fluorocarbons (HFC’s). Those are chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning that are also potent, short-lived greenhouse gases.
Thanks to the Senate ratification of the treaty, the U.S. has now joined 137 other countries in an agreement that is projected to prevent substantial additional global warming by the end of the century.
The Kigali Amendment proposes to restrict the production and use of HFC’s in the future. The rationale is that HFC’s leaking out of refrigerators and air conditioning units contribute to climate change.
China is one of the signatories of the Kigali Amendment, but avoids being bound by its provisions by declaring itself to be a “developing nation.”
“This is part of a conspicuous trend on China’s part,” Lee explained. “China wants to get ahead by playing by a different set of rules than the rest of the world.”
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of HFCs. More than 60% of global HFC production is in China. Chinese HFC consumption increased almost tenfold between 2005 and 2013.
Treating China as a developing country under the treaty, he said, gives it an unfair advantage in the HFC market. It also allows China to continue production and undercut the HFC market well into the 2040’s.
As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has a long history of disregarding environmental standards. The Chinese have continued to increase their emissions and investments in coal-fired power plants, despite the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Kigali agreement as soon as it reaches his desk, something he has called for since his first day in the Oval Office.
Thanks to Lee’s amendment, however, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now obliged to propose the removal of China’s designation as a developing country under that treaty.