The island nation of Micronesia has submitted a proposal to the Montreal Protocol to phase out the use of extremely powerful greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and insulating foams.

The 197 nations belonging to the protocol will review the plan to eliminate hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and representatives will vote at an annual meeting this November.

"Phasing out HFCs through the Montreal Protocol is the biggest, fastest and cheapest piece of climate mitigation available to the world in the next few years," said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.

The treaty was originally signed in 1987 to preserve the ozone layer by phasing out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), two substances believed to have caused the infamous "ozone hole."

Over the last two decades, many of these chemicals have been replaced by HFCs, which are ozone-safe but can accelerate global warming 1,000 times faster than carbon dioxide.

"Solving one problem while exacerbating another is not acceptable," Zaelke said. "As we finally begin to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we cannot at the same time allow the equivalent of over 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide to be manufactured and released into the atmosphere."

HFCs are now the fastest-growing greenhouse gases in many parts of the world, including the United States, where their use increased by 10 percent from 2009 to 2010. The Micronesian plan unveiled Friday would reduce HFCs equivalent to 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

Micronesia submitted a similar proposal at last year's Montreal Protocol meeting, where the United States, Canada, Mexico and more than 100 other nations voiced their support. But India and China shot down the amendment, which requires a consensus to pass.

"Consensus is one of the central strengths of the treaty, and in the end that is what we want," said Zaelke after last November's meeting. "With other climate strategies struggling ... the Montreal Protocol strategy will look better and better."