In European Union, F-gas regulations were published in 2014, establishing restrictions to the use of HFC refrigerants according to their global warming potential (GWP). F-gas Regulation classifies HFC refrigerants according to their GWP and specifies the date these are banned, if applicable, for each application:

F-gas also establishes that a regular leak checking must be carried out with a frequency that increases in accordance with the tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per circuit.

Additionally, the Commission has allocated quotas for placing F-gases on the European market for each producer and importer from 2015. The percentages for each year, calculated with reference to the average consumption of HFCs in the period 2009-2012, are shown in the following graph:

It should be noted that the biggest leap is from 2017 to 2018. As a consequence, the prices of high GWP refrigerants dramatically increased during those years and the availability decreased, leading to the substitution of HFCs by low GWP refrigerants such as naturals.

The EPA SNAP program publishes final rules that list specific refrigerants as acceptable or unacceptable for certain application categories. Initially aimed to phase down ODP refrigerants, the positive success in addressing this problem led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the previous Administrations to begin to tackle the issue of HFCs' direct impact to the environment. To this end, EPA SNAP Rule 16 listed HFO R1234yf as an acceptable substitute for the automotive air-conditioning application category. This was followed by Rule 17 & Rule 19 listing several refrigerant substitutes with flammability properties as acceptable for several HVAC/R applications. EPA SNAP Rule 20 was published in July 2015, de-listing R-134a for the automotive air conditioning. Rule 20 also de-listed the most widely adopted HFCs refrigerants for supermarkets, condensing units, vending machines, ice machines, and stand-alone units: R-404A, R-507A, R-134a. EPA SNAP Rule 21 followed closely in December 2016, de-listing multiple widely used HFC refrigerants (R-407C, R-410A, R-134a, and R-404A) in centrifugal & positive displacement chillers, cold storage warehouses, food processing and domestic applications. Rule 23 was published in 2021, listing R-448A, R-449A and R-449B as acceptable for use in new medium-temperature retail stand-alone units (subject to narrowed use limits) as well as R-32, R-452B, R-454A, R-454B, R-454C and R-457A in new residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps (except R-32 in self-contained room air conditioners, that had previously listed as acceptable in 2015).

It should be mentioned that a three-judge panel ruled in August 2017 that EPA SNAP Rule 20 must be vacated as it was not legal under the Clean Air Act, and cannot require manufacturers to replace HFCs with a substitute substance However, a court ruling established their validity again in April 2020.

Due to the uncertainty caused by the vacation of the EPA SNAP Rules from 2017 to 2021, some states such as New York, California, Connecticut and Maryland, all members of the United States Climate Alliance, decided to impose their own rules for the phase down of Global Warming substances. For instance, California Senate Bill 1383 calls for 40% reduction of HFCs by 2030 and the California Air Resource Board (CARB), which is the state equivalent to the EPA, to act accordingly.

This regulation addresses issues throughout the lifecycle of fluorocarbons. It classifies refrigerants according to their GWP and specifies the date these are banned for each application:

Other requirements that HVAC/R equipment should comply are enumerated in the following:

• indications and label to designated products (showing “non-F-gas using” or degree of achievements to the target GWP value, target year and target GWP value, GWP value of the refrigerant used in the products), with the purpose of promoting designated products using low-GWP or natural refrigerant;
• regular leak checks, call service to arrange repairs before refilling as soon as leakages are found, record maintenance, and disclose to maintenance operators, etc;
• calculation of the annual F-gas leakage amounts. If that amount exceeds 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, users, as a company, need to report it to the relevant competent ministries, with information on the offices and factories from which the leakage was detected. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will notify the relevant municipal and prefectural governors on the results and the names of the companies, etc., and will publish them.

An accelerated phase-out schedule for HCFCs is planned. The steps are: reduction of 10% by 2015, reduction of 35% by 2020, reduction of 67.5% by 2025, reduction of 100% by 2030, allowance of 2.5% of baseline (2013 annual CO₂ - eq.) for the period 2030-2040, and complete phase out by 2040. The following table shows the recommended refrigerants that can substitute R-22 for each application according to Chinese authorities:

Canada proposal indicates refrigerants that are banned from 2020 onwards for each application according to the value of GWP:

Australia Bill is scheduled to start in January 2018. It consists in a gradual reduction of the maximum amount of bulk HFCs permitted to be imported into Australia, that will be managed through a quota system on imports. It is planned to reach 85 per cent by 2036, more ambitious than the limits of Kigali agreement proposal for a global phase-down. The baseline will be equal to: 15% of average HFC imports + 75% of average HCFC imports for the period 2011–2013.

• 1^st January 2018: starting of phase-down, by limiting the imports of synthetic greenhouse gases to 8 Mt CO₂-eq. (75% of the baseline).
• The intermediate reduction steps of the phase-down between 2018 and 2036 will all be equal to -7% and enforced every second year: -25% in 2018, -32% in 2020, and so on down to -15% in 2036.
• 31^st December 2035: reduction of the imports of HFCs to 15% of the baseline; the imports will remain at that level from then on.