The German government has launched an international initiative to curb emissions of sulfur hexafluoride, an exceptionally potent greenhouse gas that it says has long been overlooked in efforts to address climate change.

Announced this week at a United Nations Environment Program meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the “Global SF6 Pledge” urges countries to commit to monitoring, reporting and reducing emissions of the synthetic gas from the electric power sector, where it is used as an insulator in high-voltage equipment.

Pound for pound, SF6 is 24,300 times more effective at warming Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide and remains in the atmosphere for 1,000 years. Although the United Nations identified it as one of six key greenhouse gases in the 1990s, it has received relatively little attention from policymakers.

“It’s a gap,” said Philippe Lempp of Germany’s international development agency, which is implementing the pledge. “We need to take care of this one because it’s something that we cannot rely on countries to do themselves.”

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