Some 150 nations have agreed to phase out hydrofluorocarbon gases in cooling appliances as part of an effort to fight global warming—a decision industry groups welcomed while cautioning such a move won't be cheap.

The agreement reached last week during a summit in Rwanda is an alteration to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, in which the U.S. and many other nations pledged to reduce HFCs to stop the depletion of the ozone layer. HFCs also contribute to global warming, so under the new terms, major emitters such as the U.S. will reduce the use of the gases by 80 percent by 2045, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Stephen Yurek, CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, said the new targets were "ambitious" but that the industry is confident it can comply.

"The agreement is just the first step in a multistep process," Yurek said. "Our industry is hard at work doing the research on the HFC alternatives that will be used in the world's air conditioners, heat pumps, and refrigeration equipment, and getting that right is certainly as important as reaching agreement."

Industry groups are less sanguine about how the U.S. is proposing to reduce HFC emissions. New guidelines recently rolled out by the Environmental Protection Agency propose phasing out HFCs in refrigerators by 2021 and chillers by 2024.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers said compliance with EPA guidelines would cost manufacturers an additional $230 million.

"We don't want to have to do major redesigns twice within a couple-year period," AHAM CEO Joe McGuire told the newspaper. http://on.wsj.com/2e9NsE0

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