The closing workshop for the "Green Cooling Initiative III” (GCI III) celebrated the project's achievements over the past three years and explored the future of the RAC sector in Vietnam. GCI III has collaborated with government bodies, experts, and partner organizations to drive down greenhouse gas emissions from cooling technologies.
The closing workshop for the project Green Cooling Initiative III (GCI III) was held on 24 October 2024 in Hanoi. The workshop aimed to share the project’s results after three years of implementation and discuss the perspective of the RAC sector in Vietnam. The workshop was attended by representatives of relevant ministries and departments, partnering organisations, experts and project implementers.
Vietnam's Commitment to Phasing Down HFCs
In 2019, by ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, Vietnam has committed to phasing down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These synthetic gases commonly used in cooling and refrigeration are a rapidly growing source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming. According to the agreement, HFCs emissions are to be reduced by 80% by 2045, starting in 2024. Alongside Thailand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Colombia and Honduras, Vietnam is a partner country of the project “Green Cooling Initiative III”. The objectives of the project are to: (i) strengthen capacity of public and private actors for the green cooling; (ii) promote Green Cooling in Vietnam by accelerating the transformation of the cooling sector towards energy efficient technologies that utilise natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and ammonia, contributing to achieving Vietnam’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Project Achievements and a Glimpse into the Future
Mr. Oemar Idoe, the Coordinator of the Cluster Environment, Climate Change and Agriculture in GIZ Vietnam, the GCI III project implementing agency, proudly applauded the project’s achievements: “Today I would like to congratulate the joint GCI III project team from the Department of Climate Change (DCC) and GIZ as well as its cooperation partners such as Hanoi Industrial Vocational College and Hanoi Vocational College of Electronics and Retro-Refrigeratory Technics for the achievements of the Green Cooling initiative III in Vietnam. We also note the decision of the Vietnamese government to join the voluntary Global Cooling Pledge at COP28, which is an encouraging sign of Vietnam's commitment to advance sustainable cooling.”
In the morning session on “Green Cooling Activity Deployment in Vietnam”, the results of GCI III in Joint Cooperation Activities during 2022 – 2024 were highlighted by Mr. Nguyen Ba Tu, GCI III Project Coordinator for National Ozone Unit (NOU). Accordingly, GCI III has supported its political partner, Department of Climate Change, by providing access to Green Cooling instruments and arguments, offering demand-based support services and strengthening stakeholders networking to incorporate Green Cooling measures for the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) sector into Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Update 2022.
Regarding capacity building on Green Cooling and safe use of hydrocarbon based refrigerants, the project delivered successfully two hands-on practical training of trainers, and five replicated courses held at two vocational colleges such as Hanoi Industrial Vocational College and Hanoi Vocational College of Electronics and Retro-Refrigeratory Technics. Additionally, to promote gender responsiveness in the RAC sector, the vocational programme was tailored to better accommodate female participants. The GCI III training series from October 2023 to March 2024 was attended by 30 resource trainers/practitioners and 75 students, contributing to the development of qualified human resources for Vietnam's green cooling market.
Furthermore, the workshop provided participants with an opportunity to exchange knowledge on the cooling sector through two insightful presentations on (i) Data collection and elaborate a market study in the domestic and retail refrigeration subsectors under the food cold chain sector in Vietnam and (ii) Market Analysis Results and Proposed Transformative Plan to Green Cooling Technologies in Vietnam Food Cold Chain.
Ms. Nguyen Dang Thu Cuc, Coordinator of the National Office of Ozone, shared: “The project has introduced good practices in the technology of using new generation refrigerants to Vietnam. These technologies, when applied synchronously in training programs at vocational schools, will bring many good results for trainees to meet the requirements of demand for the environment, health and human-being.”