Fluorinated greenhouse gases in 2017

Data reported by companies on the production, import, export and destruction of fluorinated greenhouse gases in the European Union, 2007-2016.

Executive summary

The 2017 edition of the European Environment Agency (EEA) report on fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) confirms the good progress achieved in 2016 by the European Union (EU) in phasing down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a set of fluorinated gases with a high global warming potential (GWP) that is significantly contributing to climate change.

The report evaluates and presents the data reported by companies in 2017 about their activities involving F-gases in 2016, assessing both the progress made under the ongoing EU-wide HFC phase-down and the outlook towards the global HFC phase-down, which is due to begin in 2019 under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

The report also details the amount of F-gases supplied to different industrial applications. The report uses two different metrics: F-gas amounts expressed in physical tonnes reflect the use patterns of F-gases in European industries, while their GWP (in tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents (t CO2e)) are relevant for climate change policy.