Cooling Program for Southern Africa

The number of air conditioners (ACs) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region will increase from 5.4 million to around 17.7 million by 2030. Climate and energy plans of the SADC members call for greenhouse gas emission reductions and energy efficiency improvements in the cooling sector. High costs and the inaccessibility of ACs using natural refrigerants with ultra-low global warming potential are major obstacles to a sustainable transformation of the sector. The project prepares framework conditions of an AC replacement programme in its partner countries and makes it operational by the end of the project. Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) as well as energy labels for ACs will be established, an AC replacement programme introducing natural refrigerants will be operational and a sustainable financing instrument will be implemented, which considers carbon finance provided under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Project data

Countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini
IKI funding: 7,000,000.00 €
Duration: 12/2021 till 12/2026
Status: open
Implementing organisation: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Political Partner: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) - South Africa

Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism - Namibia

Ministry of Minerals and Energy - Botswana

Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs - Eswatini
Implementing Partner: China Household Electrical Appliance Association (CHEAA)
Online: https://www.green-cooling-initiative.org/about-us/our-projects/cooling-program-for-southern-africa-coopsa

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State of implementation/results

For all partner countries of the project, the Mitigation Activity Design Document was jointly prepared, discussed and validated. The project partners are now in charge of integrating relevant stakeholders into the setup of the Art. 6 preparational activities.
As one its training activities, an Art. 6 training was conducted for project stakeholders ins Namibia and Botswana.
A workshop was conducted at the World Bank Innovate4Climate (I4C) conference in September 2024 on refrigeration and air conditioning and Article 6. The workshop was held together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) (www.innovate4climate.com).
Donation of 26 Green Air Conditioners, that use the natural refrigerant R290, to National Ozone Units (NOUs) and training centers in Namibia.
During COP28, the project conducted a Side Event on Green ACs and Article 6, some selected political partners presented so far gained experiences on that matter.
A regional project workshop was conducted in Botswana in September 2023 with representatives of the four partner countries.
Cool Training for National Ozone Unit (NOU) officers took place in May 2023 and in June 2024.
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning trainers of the partner countries were trained on the safe use and handling of natural refrigerants during the Cool Training (www.green-cooling-initiative.org/…) in Germany for two weeks in October 2022.
Representatives of the NOU of the partner countries participated at the Global Green Cooling Network Meeting in July 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, which was organised to fit regarding time and place to the 44th Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) of the Montreal Protocol.
Exchanges with national standard institutions on the nationalisation of the regional Southern African Development Community Minimum Energy Performance Standards for air conditioners took place. Final drafts of the Minimum Energy Performance Standards were developed for Botswana.
Exchanges with manufacturers of the Green Air Conditioners (ACs) foreseen for the AC replacement programme and its South African sales agent are taking place to order and import Green ACs for the project.
Article 6 baselines for Botswana, Eswatini and Namibia have been developed and discussed with partners.
Collection and analysis of data on the current air conditioner (AC) stock and related energy efficiencies for the greenhouse gas baseline development as well as on available Green ACs (efficiencies, costs etc.) has started and are ongoing. The status quo regarding relevant Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) regulations, policy, safety standards, training institutes, curriculum, certification, etc. in the partner countries is being analysed.