DEFRA’s F-gas decision is a delay, not a reprieve
The EU published their proposals in 2023 and adopted a new F-Gas regulation in March 2024 (EU 2024/573), but in Great Britain (Northern Ireland must still follow the EU F-Gas Legislation) the wait went on until, on 5th November 2025, a consultation for a new GB HFC phasedown was launched and industry were given just six weeks to assess the impact and respond to the proposal. The proposal only covered a change to the GB phasedown process and made no mention of other issues such as product bans or changes to training requirements. The proposed change to the phasedown was very significant, moving the quota level from 31% of baseline level to 16.2% of baseline level – an effective drop in refrigerant availability of 47.7% from 1st January 2027.
Having consulted with members, FETA believed that the DEFRA proposal would have significant effects on the RACHP industry. We therefore proposed a gentler initial phasedown reduction in 2027 and 2030, moving more in line with DEFRA’s proposal from the mid 2030’s.
The consultation closed before Christmas and DEFRA’s response was eventually published on 15th May this year. Their response said that they needed to do further work in order to make a proposal and therefore, to give industry clarity, they would not make any changes to the phasedown from 1st January 2027. DEFRA have also stated that they will outline next steps later this year.
On the face of it, this is good news for the industry allowing more time to prepare for future changes, given we all accept the need to move away from higher GWP refrigerants.
What DEFRA made clear, as indeed we have to our members, is that this means the existing GB F Gas regulation still applies. This involves a drop in quota from 31% of baseline to 24% of baseline from 1st January 2027 – equivalent to a 22.6% drop in refrigerant availability. Whilst clearly not as big a drop as DEFRA were proposing, this remains a challenge for the industry to confront. A further significant drop in quota occurs from 1st January 2030.
The F Gas regulation is not just about quotas and phasedown. We need to remember that existing product bans will also remain in force.
FETA has been very active with political lobbying for the past 18 months, and has succeeded in getting a number of written questions tabled in both Houses of Parliament. These concerned when the consultation was going to be published, which was causing industry a great deal of uncertainty. Subsequent to the consultation we have been pushing for more detail and timelines.
Martyn manages several groups in the Refrigeration, HEVAC and Chimney Associations across FETA. He is also responsible for improving channels of communication internally to members, and externally to the many organisations, institutions, trade bodies and government departments relevant to the work of FETA, and maintains the FETA web site.
