Achieving Paris climate goals calls for increasing ambition of the Kigali Amendment

Hydrofluorocarbon emissions have increased rapidly and are managed by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Yet the current ambition is not consistent with the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal. Here, we draw on the Montreal Protocol start-and-strengthen approach to show that accelerated phase-down under the Kigali Amendment could result in additional reductions of 72% in 2050, increasing chances of staying below 1.5 °C throughout this century. The current ambition for hydrofluorocarbon emissions reduction by the Kigali Amendment is not sufficient to meet the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal. The authors show that a more ambitious Kigali Amendment target could still help in achieving the Paris goal if more countries act early.