Cooling Program for Southern Africa

Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)
Partner countries: Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa

Duration: December 2021 - December 2026

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. The growing use of ACs will lead to increasing greenhouse gas emissions due to the fossil-fuel-based electricity used by most ACs and the fluorinated gases (F-gases) that are mainly used as refrigerants in ACs and cause substantial emissions as they leak. Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving energy efficiency in the cooling sector in the SADC region is imperative. However, there are major obstacles to achieving the sustainable transformation of the sector, such as the inaccessibility and high cost of energy-efficient and F-gas-free ACs (Green ACs).

Objectives and Implementation

The aim of the programme is to prepare and implement a climate change mitigation programme to introduce energy-efficient and F-gas free ACs in the region of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), specifically in Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa. Therefore, framework conditions to pilot market-based approaches according to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement will be created. The programme will work on political, contractual, regulatory, technological, and economic framework conditions.

The following implementation actions will be carried out by CooPSA:

- Conclusion of bilateral preliminary agreements to transfer Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) as a basis for carbon financing and quantification of emission reductions

- Preparation of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) as well as energy labels for ACs

- Design of an AC replacement program introducing natural refrigerants by creating and increasing the supply and demand side in the region and developing a concept for the end-of-life-management of ACs

- Development of a sustainable financing instrument in accordance with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

The target group of CooPSA includes: political decision makers, financial institutions, technology suppliers & importers, RAC associations, training institutions.