Supplemental Background Information

The Refrigerant Emissions Elimination Forum (REEF) started with a simple question: “Does an organization exist to coordinate the collective voice of owner-operators seeking to overcome refrigerants as a barrier to achieving climate objectives?” Despite notable efforts from several organizations, the answer was, “No. There is no single entity dedicated to this growing problem."

In response, REEF was formed. Industry leaders with extensive backgrounds co-founding and leading successful environmental non-profits including the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) organized a convening partner event at the October 2022 VERGE Climate Conference. The event brought together a multi-stakeholder group of refrigerant experts, corporate sustainability leaders, NGOs, and government organizations. The resulting collaboration produced a clearly defined problem statement, a confirmed need for collective action, an outline of REEF’s vision and mission, and early-stage objectives for the REEF organization.

The Problem Statement

Refrigerant gasses are powerful, growing, and overlooked drivers of climate change. Many refrigerant products in widespread use today can trap thousands of times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2. Collectively, refrigerants are also the world’s fastest growing category of greenhouse gasses. As a result, Project Drawdown estimates that reducing and better managing high global warming potential (high-GWP) refrigerants could avoid .5 C of warming by 2100. Despite notable progress, including the Kigali Amendment and AIM Act in the USA, corporate and policy action on refrigerants is still far too slow to meet international climate targets, and businesses are only beginning to pay attention to the topic.

Our Vision:

We envision a world in which there is zero climate and environmental impact from refrigerants used in cooling and heat pump technologies.

Our Mission:

We inspire and drive business action on Scope 1 refrigerant emissions, as a means to transform the broader refrigerant landscape toward zero climate and environmental impact.

2024: A Significant Step Forward

In 2024, REEF made significant progress, setting the stage for ambitious plans in 2025.

● In 2024, REEF expanded its all-volunteer board of directors, elected board officers, recruited an interim Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, hired an Education and Outreach Manager, and applied for and was granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS.

● REEF expanded its partnerships for refrigerant progress by joining the Department of Energy’s Commercial Buildings Heat Pump Accelerator and taking on a leadership role in the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council’s refrigerant procurement guidance development.

● REEF also welcomed our first two business and not-for-profit members, VEIC and IGSD, and hosted two in-person events in California and New York.

● With the support of Education and Outreach manager, J’aime Mitchell, REEF launched our social media presence, developed a digital newsletter, improved our website, and developed a staffing and operational plan for 2025.

● Looking ahead, REEF plans to recruit a full-time Education & Outreach Manager and hire a full-time Executive Director in 2025 to support REEF’s continued growth and impact.