NDC4 Webinars
Accelerating climate action with cooling sector-related NDCs
The NDC4 webinar series shines light on the importance and potential of the cooling sector for more ambitious and enhanced NDCs and disseminates holistic mitigation approaches.

Cooling sector specific mitigation targets and measures can significantly contribute to achieving a country’s overall climate targets and therefore, need to be considered when defining and updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The global project Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change ll (C4 II (opens in a new window)) launches a webinar series to illustrate tools, methods and best practice examples for designing and implementing more ambitious NDCs in the cooling sector.
Past events:
NDC4 Webinar #13: Solar PV-powered Room Air Conditioning: Market Trends and Techno-economic potential (3 June, 12 - 1pm UTC, English)
Current air conditioning practices significantly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The new study “Solar PV-powered Room Air Conditioning: Market trends and techno-economic potential” is an update to a 2022 study on the topic and highlights the potential of renewable energy sources. The combination of using renewables, energy efficient air conditioners and climate-friendly natural refrigerants for a truly Green Cooling has a great potential to meeting the Paris Agreement. With the declining costs of solar PV and energy storage equipment and improvements in AC technologies, solar-powered cooling is becoming increasingly viable both technologically and economically.
In this webinar we will delve into the technical and economic potential of solar PV-powered green air conditioners, focusing on single split-type air conditioning systems with a cooling capacity of up to 5 kW for residential and small commercial application. We will discuss hybrid and off-grid solutions, and analyze these cases across 17 countries using Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Net Present Value (NPV) metrics. A case study using ice storage instead of battery storage will also be presented. This webinar aims to foster further development in the promising yet nascent PV AC market and inspire continued research and practical applications.
Moderation: GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
12 00-12:05 | Opening Remarks | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
12:05-12:40 | Insights into “Solar PV-powered Room Air Conditioning: Market trends and techno-economic potential” | Prof. Paul Kohlenbach, Solem Consulting |
12:40-13:00 | Q&A | All participants |
NDC4 Webinar #12: Cutting HFC Emissions in the cooling sector: Tools for Systematic GHG Reporting (13 May, 11am -12pm UTC, English)
Reducing HFC emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) applications is crucial for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. An important tool to monitor and improve mitigation ef-forts are the National Inventory Reports (NIRs). They enable the systematic accounting, monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions and respective mitigation efforts. Since a recent update of the IPCC software, a top-down (Tier 1) and a more granular (Tier 2) approach can be applied within the software.
This webinar will enhance your skills in systematic accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through NIRs. You will be introduced to the recent update of the IPCC software regarding HFC emis-sion reporting. Further on, a newly developed MS Excel-based worksheet that facilitates the under-standing of applied formulas for Tier 1 will be introduced. Additionally, a separate quick guide to the IPCC inventory software for Tier 1 RAC sector emissions reporting utilizing Art 7 data is provided, too.
Moderation: Lisa Slingenberg, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
11: 00-11:05 | Opening Remarks | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
11:05-11:25 | New features in relation to HFC reporting and calculating in the IPCC software | Lisa Hanle, IPCC TFI TSU consultant |
11:25-11:45 | Introducing Minimodule “Including HFC Emissions in National Inventory Reports - Tier 1 Approach” | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
11:45-12:00 | Q&A | All participants |
NDC4 Webinar #11: Introducing the HFC Emission Baseline Tool for Enhanced NDC Reporting(24 April 2025, 8-9 am UTC, English)
The refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector is responsible for up to 10% of global GHG emissions, stemming from refrigerant use (direct emissions) and the operation of the equipment using fossil-fuel based energy sources (indirect emissions). Reducing these emissions is important to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Green Cooling solutions exist for almost all RAC subsectors. They are very cost-efficient and therefore considered as “low-hanging fruits”.
This webinar will illustrate why it is crucial for countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with accurate HFC baselines to allow for emissions accounting and reporting. Moreover, this webinar will introduce the HFC Emission Baseline Tool, which enables countries to quantify and track the cumulative climate benefits of HFC consumption reductions. This will include a practical methodology that leverages existing consumption data to establish robust HFC emission baselines for inclusion in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Finally, the webinar will also offer practical insights from the NDC Cooling Guide on integrating baselines for reporting in your country’s NDC.
Moderation: Tizian Pfeiffer, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
08: 00-08:05 | Opening Remarks | Maria-Theresa Bruns, GIZ Proklima |
08:05-08:25 | Introducing the HFC Emission Baseline Tool | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
08:25-08:35 | NDC Cooling Guide: Practical insights for NDC integration | Amr Seleem, Cool Coalition |
08:35-09:00 | Q&A | All participants |
Webinar #10: Enhancing NDCs with MRV: Green Cooling Solutions for Mitigation Action (10 April 2025, 2-3 pm UTC, English)
The refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector is responsible for up to 10% of global GHG emis-sions, stemming from refrigerant use (direct emissions) and the operation of the equipment using fossil-fuel based energy sources (indirect emissions). Reducing these emissions is important to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Green Cooling solutions exist for almost all RAC sub-sectors. They are very cost-efficient and therefore considered as “low-hanging fruits”.
This webinar will illustrate why it is crucial for countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contri-butions (NDCs) with Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation (MRV) processes to ensure the effective-ness of Green Cooling solutions. Moreover, this webinar will comprise a presentation of the minimod-ule ‘Exemplary MRV System for a Mitigation Action in the Cooling Sector’ (opens in a new window), including a description of the MRV process, such as establishing baselines and identifying key variables This will offer a basic understanding of MRV strategies and provide guidelines to integrate them in an NDC.
Moderation: Tizian Pfeiffer, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
14: 00 - 14:05 | Opening Remarks | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
14:05 - 14:30 | Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems in the cooling sector | Martin Brown-Santirso, HEAT GmbH |
14:30 - 15:10 | Q & A | All participants |
Webinar #9: R290 - A Sustainable Cooling Revolution (3 April 2025, 12-13pm UTC, English)
As global demand for air conditioning rises, split-type ACs contribute significantly to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions stem from both the operation of the units, often powered by fossil fuels, and from the use of high-impact refrigerants. In this context, R290 (propane) presents a sustainable solution, enhancing energy efficiency and reducing emissions in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump (RACHP) sectors.
This webinar will explore the role of R290 in driving the transition to greener cooling solutions. By introducing the updated R290 Resource Guide and sharing practical examples of its use in RAC equipment, this session will highlight the substantial potential of R290 in promoting sustainability and reducing GHG emissions in the RAC sector. We will also discuss the challenges to adopting R290, including safety concerns and technical barriers, and highlight the opportunities for accelerating its use. Join us to learn how R290 can support climate action plans and contribute to global sustainability goals.
Moderation: Paola Bustillos, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
12: 00 - 12:05 | Opening Remarks | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
12:05 - 12:25 | Update of the R290 Resource Guide | Daniel Colbourne, Re-Phridge |
12:25 - 12:40 | Practical applications of R290 | Philipp Denzinger, GIZ Proklima |
12:40 - 13:00 | Q & A | All participants |
Webinar #8: Camino al etiquetado ecológico – Lecciones Aprendidas de las Compras Públicas Verdes en Costa Rica (25 March 2025, 15-16pm UTC, Spanish)
Costa Rica se ha consolidado como líder en la implementación de políticas públicas sostenibles, y las Compras Públicas Estratégicas (CPE), las cuales han sido clave para impulsar la transición en el uso de productos y servicios con menor impacto social y ambiental, sin dejar de lado las considera-ciones económicas. El eco-etiquetado es una herramienta fundamental para identificar opciones de estos bienes y servicios sostenibles, y permite garantizar la transparencia en el mercado, y en el sec-tor RAC no es la excepción.
Este webinar explorará las lecciones aprendidas de la experiencia costarricense en la implementación del etiquetado ecológico dentro de las CPE, específicamente en el sector RAC. Se presentarán los beneficios ambientales, sociales y económicos, los retos técnicos y normativos, así como la impor-tancia de la colaboración entre sectores para promover un consumo y producción sostenibles.
Moderación: Andrés Domian Astorga, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Hora (UTC) | Tema | Ponente |
---|---|---|
15:00 - 15:05 | Palabras de apertura | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
15:05 - 15:25 | Introducción a la Compras públicas verdes | Sandra Venegas, Coordinadora de la Unidad de Investigación y Análisis de la Dirección de Contratación Pública, Mi-nisterio Hacienda, Costa Rica |
15:25 - 15:45 | Costa Rica en camino hacia el etiquetado ecológico | Marco Chinchilla Salazar, asesor de la Unidad de Producción y Consumo Sostenible, Dirección de Calidad Ambiental (DIGECA), Costa Rica |
15:45 - 16:10 | Q & A | All participants |
16:10 - 16:15 | Palabras de clausura | Claudia Alvarez, GIZ Proklima |
Recording
Webinar #7: Why Cooling matters: A Step-by-step Guide to Integrating the Cooling Sector into NDCs (20 June 2024, 14-15pm UTC, English)
The refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector is responsible for up to 10% of global GHG emissions, stemming from refrigerant use (direct emissions) and the operation of the equipment using fossil-fuel based energy sources (indirect emissions). Reducing these emissions is important to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Green Cooling solutions exist for almost all RAC sub-sectors. They are very cost-efficient and therefore considered as “low-hanging fruits”.
This webinar will illustrate why it is crucial for countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with Green Cooling solutions based on natural refrigerants and highly energy-efficient appliances and buildings. Moreover, this webinar will introduce existing tools to assess a country’s ambition level and provide guidelines to integrate and appropriately cover the cooling sector in an NDC.
Moderation: Tizian Pfeiffer
Agenda
Time | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
14:00 - 14:05 | Opening Remarks | Tizian Pfeiffer, GIZ Proklima |
14:05 - 14:20 | Why the Cooling Sector matters for ambitious NDCs | Paola Bustillos Castillo, GIZ Proklima |
14:20 - 14:40 | Tools and guidance to assist in raising ambition in NDCs – a Live presentation | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
14:40 - 15:00 | Cooling NDC Consultation hour | All participants |
Webinar #6: Leveraging the Cooling Sector for Ambitious NDCs: Policy Instruments and Holistic Mitigation Approaches in Grenada (12 April 2024, 14-15pm UTC, English)
In Grenada, cooling accounts for one-third of Grenada’s total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 60% of Grenada’s national electricity consumption.[1] Recognizing this, Grenada is at the forefront of advancing Green Cooling technologies to mitigate its environmental impact.
As the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector touches upon many policy aspects, its mainstreaming in the NDC process is key for the reduction of GHG emissions. From housing strategy to waste management and technicians’ capacities, implementation strategies require system thinking and buy-in from involved entities. This webinar will introduce policy instruments for addressing refrigerant and energy-related emissions share best practices from Grenada in leveraging the cooling sector for ambitious climate action.
Moderation: Maja Schmauser
Agenda
Time | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
14:00 - 14:05 | Opening Remarks | Marion Geiss, Head of Pro-jects, GIZ Grenada |
14:05 - 14:10 | Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change II (C4 II) | Jiminy Scott, Technical Advi-sor, GIZ Grenada |
14:10 - 14:20 | Policy Instruments for Addressing Refrigerant and Energy-related Emissions | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
14:20 - 14:40 | Insights into Grenada's strategies for leveraging the cooling sector to enhance its NDCs: processes, challenges and achievements | Leslie Smith, National Ozone Officer, Grenada |
14:40 - 15:00 | Questions & Answers | All participants |
Webinar #5: Financing Green Cooling – Opportunities for Financial Institutions (31 October 2023, 11am - 12pm CET, English)
One of the challenges to achieve a sustainable transformation of the refrigeration and air conditioning sector is the provision and effective deployment of finance to enable a widespread uptake of Green Cooling appliances. As a significant portion of the target audience lacks the financial means for upfront investment, financial solutions are needed to facilitate the acquisition of Green Cooling appliances. Financial institutions can play a pivotal role by bridging the gap by offering financial products, such as green loans, that enable customers to acquire and install Green Cooling appliances without a burdensome initial payment. This approach can accelerate the transition to Green Cooling by making it more accessible and affordable.
This webinar delved into the key principles of Green Cooling and explore the opportunities associated with promoting eco-friendly finance solutions for Green Cooling. Furthermore, the webinar illustrated how financial institutions can embed Green Cooling into the wider context of the Sustainable Finance Agenda. Ultimately, the speakers presented a structured, stepwise approach for the development of a Green Cooling loan product.
Moderation: Maja Schmauser, GIZ Proklima
Agenda
Time | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
11:00 - 11:10 | Opening Remarks | GIZ Proklima |
11:10 - 11:20 | Overview: Financing mitigation measures in the cooling sector | Lukas Kahlen, New Climate Institute |
11:20 - 11:30 | Financing Green Cooling: What are potential roles, opportunities and risks for financial institutions? | Lukas Kahlen, New Climate Institute |
11:30 - 11:45 | Using credit lines to foster green lending in the cooling sector | Sanna Stockstrom, KfW Development Bank |
11:45 - 12:00 | Questions & Answers | All participants |
Webinar #4: Cool MRV: Combining emissions reporting with enforcement of standards and labelling for cooling products in Latin America and the Caribbeans (04 August 2023, 14:00 – 15:00 UTC, Spanish)
When it comes to climate action in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector, effective measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions is crucial and required under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as advisable under the Montreal Protocol (MP) and its Kigali Amendment. An MRV system forms the basis for developing and implementing effective mitigation strategies for the cooling sector. The challenge: data collection is often not systematic and the MRV approach is not clear.
This webinar provided an overview on how an effective MRV system for the cooling sector can look like and will demonstrate United For Efficiency’s (U4E) activities on Product Registration Systems to enforce standards and labels for cooling products and will also present a free of charge prototype.
Moderation: Adolfo Cordoba Rodriguez, GIZ Proklima
Time (UTC) | Topic | Speaker |
---|---|---|
14:00-14:05 | Opening Remarks | GIZ Proklima |
14:05-14:25 | NDCs, National Inventories and the Montreal Protocol: Understanding MRV in the cooling sector | Irene Papst & Martin Brown-Santirso, HEAT GmbH |
14:25-14:40 | Importance of Product Registration Systems and U4E prototype for application in countries | Madeleine Edl & Miquel Pitarch,U4E |
14:40-15:00 | Questions & Answers | All participants |
Webinar #3: Combining emissions reporting with enforcement of energy standards and labelling for cooling products (11 May 2023, 9:30-10:30 CEST)
When it comes to climate action in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector, effective measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions is crucial and required under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as under the Montreal Protocol (MP) and its Kigali Amendment
Emissions from the refrigeration sector are made up of two parts: 1/3 are direct emissions from the use of refrigerants. 2/3 are indirect emissions resulting from the energy consumption of the products. Both direct and indirect emissions can be drastically reduced by switching to natural refrigerants and increasing energy efficiency, and the corresponding reductions can be accounted for in a country's NDC. An MRV system forms the basis for developing and implementing effective mitigation strategies. The challenge: data collection is often not systematic and the MRV approach is not clear.
This webinar provided an overview on how an effective MRV system for the cooling sector can look like and demonstrated how the Philippines combines emissions reporting with the enforcement of energy standards and labelling for cooling productsas part of their Energy Labeling Program (PELP).
Agenda:
Topic | Speaker |
---|---|
Welcome Remarks | GIZ Proklima |
NDCs, National Inventories and the Montreal Protocol: Understanding MRV in the cooling sector | Irene Papst, Heat GmbH |
Philippine Energy Labeling Program (PELP) | Aaron Premacio, Energy Performance Regulation and Enforcement Division, Energy Utilization and Management Bureau Philippines |
Making use of product registration databases for RAC MRV | Maraida Licerio, GIZ Proklima |
Questions & Answers | All participants |
Webinar #2: Benchmarking the level of ambition of cooling sector-related measures included in NDCs (13 December 2022, 2-3 pm CET)
The second webinar introduced the benchmarking tool developed together with the guideline Raising ambition in NDCs through holistic mitigation approaches in the cooling sector – Guidance for policymakers (opens in a new window). The guideline intends to provide political decision makers with a step-by-step guidance on how to integrate and appropriately cover the cooling sector in an NDC. This is complemented by benchmarking tool that aims at enabling decision-makers to do a self-analysis on the level of ambition of cooling sector-related measures included in the current or future updated NDCs.
Agenda:
Topic | Speaker |
---|---|
Welcome Remarks | Philipp Denzinger, GIZ Proklima |
Overview of the objective and approach of the NDC guidelines | Daniela Laßmann, Perspectives Climate Group |
Presentation of the benchmarking tool for cooling-sector related NDCs | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
Questions & Answers | All participants |
Webinar #1: NDC4 Call for Proposals: Raising ambition in NDCs with Green Cooling (22 November 2022, 2-3 pm CET)
The first webinar did provide guidance on how to apply for the NDC4 Call for Proposals (opens in a new window) which provides technical advisory to ambitious countries in the application of best practices for NDC strategy development in the cooling sector. Examples presented by the project coordinators were used to illustrate what the activities can look like in practice. In the following you find all information presented to the audience.
Agenda:
Topic | Speaker |
---|---|
Welcome Remarks | GIZ Proklima |
Overview of current status and activities of C4 II | GIZ Proklima |
NDC4 Call for Proposals: • Application procedure • Examples of possible activities that can be supported | Irene Papst, HEAT GmbH |
Questions & Answers | All participants |
Contact
In case of any questions, please contact: ndc4@giz.de
About the project
The global project Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change ll (C4 II) is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI).