The increase of emissions from the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector is in stark contrast with what must be achieved as GHG emission mitigation measures under UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Reaching the 1.5°C target would require cutting global GHG emission by 50% until 2030. The IPPC sixth assessment report, Working Group 3, requests a peaking of global emissions by 2025. Reaching this target requires a significantly higher ambition than countries express in their NDCs and updated NDCs today and a much stronger implementation of a climate policy architecture with binding sectoral climate targets and the coverage of all relevant GHG in the countries’ NDCs and the development of long-term low emissions strategies (LTS) towards climate neutrality.
To date many countries do not cover or do not cover comprehensively and consistently HFCs as part of the GHG inventories and countries have no sectoral targets in NDCs, which address the RAC sector. The establishment of credible sectoral pathways for the RAC sector, in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement, with Paris Agreement compliant NDCs and LTSs will make an important contribution. Mitigation actions in the RAC sector have relatively lower marginal abatement costs and are easier to implement than mitigation in other sector with higher implementation barriers such as agriculture or hard-to-abate industry sectors such as steel and cement. Also, there are substantial synergies and cost savings, through an integrated approach, allowing for the required change from high GWP HCFCs and HFCs to natural refrigerants and energy efficient systems at the same time.
National Cooling Plans, adopted by an increasing number of countries, are good instruments. They should become integral part of committed NDCs and LTSs. Also, sectoral RAC strategies as part of NDCs and LTSs are to be embedded in a robust MRV framework. Important elements of such framework are sectoral targets for direct and indirect emissions in the RAC sector, the transition from high GWP refrigerants to natural refrigerants, ambitious energy efficiency targets, an annual review process tracking and readjustment of targets. Although attention to the RAC sector in NDCs is growing, strategies often lack ambition and approaches to address the RAC sector in a sustainable manner targeting both climate-friendly refrigerants and energy-efficient solutions.
Important elements of the challenges (I) leapfrogging to climate and environmentally RAC solutions under the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Agreement and (II) seeking synergies between the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Agreement, through integrated, sectoral NDC strategies in partner countries were successfully addressed by GIZ, supported by HEAT and New Climate, in the first phase of the C4 project.
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