COOLING HOMES, HEATING PLANET

India showed leadership in the fight to protect the ozone layer by phasing out CFCs and HCFCs well before global deadlines. We can lead once again, this time in protecting the climate

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The ozone hole is healing. The layer that shields us from the sun’s deadly ultraviolet rays was severely damaged by chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), once widely used as refrigerants in air-conditioners and refrigerators.

Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, these chemicals will be phased out globally by 2030. Scientists now predict that the ozone layer will fully recover by 2066, saving millions of lives from skin cancer.

Yet, as one crisis recedes, another is fast unfolding—this time caused by the new refrigerants that replaced CFCs and HCFCs. The coolants we use today—hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—are hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO ) in heating the climate. And in India, we are leaking them recklessly from our room air-conditioners (RACs).

The sale of RACs has been growing at 15-20% annually since 2020. Urbanization, rising incomes, and intensifying heatwaves have turned ACs from a middle-class luxury intoa household necessity. India currently has about 70 million RACs, Even with modest annual sales growth of 10%, this number will triple to 245 million by 2035.

But how responsibly are we using and maintaining our ACs? How conscious are we about energy efficiency? How frequently are we refilling refrigerants? And how aware are we of their harmful impacts?

To find answers, my colleagues at iFOREST recently conducted a first-of-its-kind national household survey covering more than 3,100 families from all income groups across seven major cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Jaipur. The results are both fascinating and deeply worrying.