More than 60 countries attending the COP28 climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates have joined a pledge to cut cooling-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The UAE, which holds the COP 28 presidency, published the pledge at the conference venue on Tuesday. Japan and the United States were among those that joined it.

It is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the cooling sector by at least 68 percent by 2050 compared to 2022 levels.

It stipulates a plan to support research and development for cooling systems using materials with a lower greenhouse effect, given that chlorofluorocarbons, which are used in ordinary cooling equipment, have a much greater greenhouse effect of 100 to 10,000 times, compared to carbon dioxide.

The pledge also contains efforts to recover and recycle chlorofluorocarbons already in use, under international cooperation led by Japan.

A senior researcher at Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies, Saito Takuya, says it is important to spread Japanese technology to prevent chlorofluorocarbon emissions to other countries.