Refrigerants, Naturally! is a global, non-profit initiative of companies in the food and drink, food service and consumer good sectors. Members publicly commit to substituting harmful fluorinated gases ("F-gases", such as CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs) with natural refrigerants.

Launched in 2004, the initiative includes PepsiCo, Red Bull, The Coca-Cola Company, SAB Miller, and Unilever. It is supported by UNEP and Greenpeace, which advise the member companies on ways to advance on their goals regarding sustainable refrigeration.

Main objectives:

• Promote a shift in the point-of-sale cooling technology towards natural refrigerants with a low-or non-Global Warming Potential and a zero Ozone Depletion Potential, that is safe, reliable and cost effective;
• Do this whilst improving or (at least) equalling energy efficiency compared to existing fluorocarbon based technology;
• Provide a platform and communicate with the refrigeration technology supply chain, with other users, governments and civil society.

Commitments:

• To replace synthetic with natural refrigerants;
• To use HFC-free insulation material;
• To reduce the energy consumption of new refrigeration equipment.

Main activities:

• Engage in promoting international policies for the advancement of natural refrigerants in commercial cooling technologies;
• Participate in climate change conferences;
• Issue statements to the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, and the Meeting of the Parties for the Montreal Protocol and other important events, such as UN Climate Summits;
• Share technical information about alternative refrigeration between the partners, etc.
• Member companies and Greenpeace urge political decision makers to amend the Montreal Protocol to include the control of hydrofluorocarbons. An international agreement to use the expertise and the institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs is an important step towards the global phase-out of these substances.
• Member companies supported an early phase-down schedule for HFCs with high global warming potential in new hermetically sealed commercial refrigeration equipment in the new European F-Gas Regulation. It is scheduled for 2020.

Photo credit: Jason Devaun (Flickr)