As most countries are preparing to get rid of potent greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners, Nepal has said it needs huge investment and technology transfer before replacing them with cleaner alternatives.

Addressing high-level negotiations in Rwanda, under the Montreal Protocol, Minister for Environment and Population Jay Dev Joshi said that it would be difficult for Nepal—a developing country and without appropriate cleaner technologies—to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a coolant used in refrigerators and air conditioners, completely.

In an attempt to save the ozone layer from climate-warming harmful greenhouse gases including CFCs and HCFCs under the Montreal Protocol adopted in 1987, world leaders in the 1990s decided to introduce HFCs as a cleaner replacement. However, later HFCs turned out to be catastrophic as it traps thousands of times more heat than carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the major greenhouse gases causing global warming. In the meeting that began on Thursday, leaders from 200 countries are discussing alternatives to HFCs and move towards low global warming potential substances to curb the rise of global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels as agreed in Paris last year.

Minister Joshi said at the meeting that Nepal has already banned the import and use of CFCs and decided to bring the use and import of HCFC to zero by 2030. However, there is no any provision and policy to prevent the import and use of HFCs in Nepal, he added.

“We need support from the international community to help Nepal move towards cleaner alternatives through adequate funding and technology transfer,” he said, according to a statement issued by the Environment Ministry on Friday.