Carper Statement on Kigali Amendment Transmittal to the U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today welcomed the Biden administration’s transmittal of the Kigali Amendment to the Senate for ratification. 

Carper has been an early advocate for ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which calls for the phasedown of super polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). He authored the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which phases down HFCs along the timeline required under Kigali.

“I wholeheartedly support President Biden’s request for Congress to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol,” said Carper. “It’s long past time that we join the rest of the international community in addressing HFCs and taking the kind of bold, transformational climate action that this moment demands. Doing so would not only be good for our planet but our economy as well. Business leaders support ratifying Kigali because they know it will further open up global markets to American-made products and protect U.S. companies from illegal Chinese imports. Additionally, with the AIM Act passed and implemented, any further delay on Kigali ratification simply does not make sense. That’s why I will be urging my Senate colleagues to move quickly and ratify the Kigali Amendment without delay.”

If ratified by Congress, the Kigali Amendment will be the fifth ratified amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which the United States first ratified in 1988 under President Reagan.

In September, Carper joined U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan for a virtual event marking the final rule signing to implement the AIM Act, authored by Carper, as well as Senators John Kennedy (R-La.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Backed by a broad coalition of industry and environmental groups, the law ushers in the use of more climate-friendly and energy-efficient alternatives to HFCs that will save consumers money while also reducing emissions.