F-gases

UNFCCC is a global climate convention adopted on May 9, 1992 in New York , opened for signature during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (3–14 June 1992) and in force since 21 March 1994. Its primary objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Basic principles of the Convention

• Common goal and precautionary principle – working to reduce emissions even with scientific uncertainty.
• Commitments of the Parties – emission inventories, reduction programmes, technology transfer, financing of climate actions in developing countries, reporting and transparency.
• COP (Conference of the Parties) – the highest decision-making body of the UNFCCC; annual meetings overseeing the implementation of the Convention and adopting decisions and additional legal instruments.

Poland – main responsibilities

• annual inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and removals in accordance with the IPCC guidelines (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ),
• national emission reduction strategies and programs,
• periodic reports to the COP,
• climate research and monitoring and international cooperation.

More information

• Ministry of Climate and Environment
  https://www.gov.pl/web/klimat
• UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
  https://unfccc.int/

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997 and, following ratification, entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 parties to the Protocol.

The Protocol is an extension of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and obliges industrialised countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the targets set for each of them.

Scope of the Kyoto Protocol

The Protocol covers the reduction of six greenhouse gases:

carbon dioxide (CO₂)
methane (CH₄)
nitrous oxide (N₂O)
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆)
Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol

To facilitate the achievement of its objectives, the Protocol introduced three mechanisms:

Joint Implementation (JI)
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Emission Trading
These mechanisms enabled the Parties to achieve their reduction targets in a more flexible and cost-effective manner.

Further information

UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change https://unfccc.int

The European Commission has announced that reports on fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) referred to in Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council may be submitted from March 4, 2025.

Who should submit the report?

• A manufacturer, importer, or exporter who, in the previous calendar year, manufactured, imported, or exported HFCs or more than one metric ton or 100 tons of CO2 equivalent of other F-gases.
• A manufacturer or importer who has been allocated quotas pursuant to Article 17(4) or to whom quotas have been transferred pursuant to Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2024/573, but who did not place any quantities of HFCs on the market in the previous calendar year, shall submit a so-called declaration of no reporting obligation.
• An entity that destroyed HFCs or more than one metric ton or 100 tons of CO2 equivalent of other F-gases in the previous calendar year.
• An entity that, in the previous calendar year, used at least 1,000 tons of CO2 equivalent of F-gases specified in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council as a substrate.
• An entity that placed at least 10 tons of CO2 equivalent of HFCs or at least 100 tons of CO2 equivalent of other F-gases contained in products or equipment on the market in the previous calendar year.
• An entity that has received any quantities of HFCs referred to in Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council
• A manufacturer or importer who has placed HFCs on the market for the purpose of manufacturing pressurized metered-dose inhalers for the delivery of pharmaceutical ingredients.
• An entity that has recycled quantities exceeding one metric ton or 100 tons of CO2 equivalent of F-gases

Who should submit the independent auditor’s report verifying the report to the BDR?

• An importer of equipment who has placed on the market pre-filled equipment referred to in Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council containing at least 1,000 tons of CO2 equivalent HFCs, where those HFCs were not placed on the market before being contained in the equipment.

A verification report is required for the placing on the market of pre-filled equipment containing at least 10 tons of CO2 equivalent HFC, but the obligation to submit it only applies to quantities of at least 1,000 tons of CO2 equivalent HFC.

• An entity that placed at least 1,000 tons of CO2 equivalent HFCs on the market in the previous calendar year.

When should the reports be submitted?

The report for 2024 must be submitted by March 31, 2025, via the Business Data Repository (BDR) system – an online reporting system managed by the European Environment Agency, available at https://bdr.eionet.europa.eu/.

The independent auditor’s verification report must be submitted by April 30, 2025.

In order to submit a report, the entity must first register on the F-gas Portal available at https://fgas-licensing.ec.europa.eu.

For more information on registering with the F-gas Portal, please visit the following link:

https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/fluorinated-greenhouse-gases/f-gas-portal_en

Information for entities submitting reports to the BDR portal

In order to facilitate annual reporting to the BDR system maintained by the European Commission, we provide instructions and supporting materials:

The data reporting instructions are available here.

Under the link: FAQ – F-gases there is a document with the most frequently asked questions regarding the submission of annual reports.

13 III 2025

Important information for importers of equipment containing HFCs

Please be advised that an updated December 2021 version of the study prepared by the EC ‘Guidance for importers of equipment’ (Information for importers of equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases on their obligations under the EU F-gas Regulation) is available, which in English can be downloaded as a ‘Guidance Document’ from the ‘Authorisation of quota’ tab of the EC website:

https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/fluorinated-greenhouse-gases/f-gas-portal-hfc-licensing-system-quota-allocation-authorisation-and-reporting_pl

(21 II 2022)