Article 5 HFC Destruction Workshop

Synthesis and Recommendations

Prior to the March 2026 Yale Clean Cooling Conference, Cascade Climate and the Carbon Containment Lab co-convened a small expert group for a workshop on “Ensuring effective guardrails and pilots for catalytic HFC destruction projects in Article 5 countries”. This workshop — on the heels of a major private sector commitment to super pollutant mitigation — discussed the potential use of carbon finance in catalyzing ODS and HFC recovery and destruction capacity build-out. In particular, it focused on enabling conditions and appropriate guardrails for HFC carbon credits in Article 5 countries (i.e., developing countries under the Montreal Protocol).

The workshop was motivated by the idea that well-designed carbon finance could be a valuable component of kickstarting refrigerant recovery and destruction capacity in countries where these high-GWP gases are traditionally vented, and accelerating progress toward their Montreal Protocol, Kigali Amendment, and domestic regulatory obligations.

The below document summarizes perspectives that emerged in the lead-up to, during, and after the workshop, as well as Cascade’s recommendations for actions the field can take to maximize the value of initial HFC destruction projects as part of the broader refrigerant transition in Article 5 countries.