Namibia’s Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) is taking steps to tackle global warming by developing a National Cooling Strategy aimed at decarbonizing the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) sector.
According to Lucia Iipumbu, Minister of Industrialisation and Trade, the draft Strategy is complete and will be subjected to national stakeholder consultations before being tabled at the highest policy institutional architectures for endorsement.
“We initiated the National Policy on Climate Change in 2011 to translate the government’s will and commitment to tackle global warming and recognized that achieving our targets and commitments requires sectoral approaches, thus the country has also drafted its National Cooling Strategy,” she said.
Speaking at the Decarbonising Namibia Conference, Iipumbu explained that the policy was born out of the government’s commitment to tackle global warming through sectoral approaches.
She noted that refrigeration and air-conditioning are significant contributors to global warming, both directly and indirectly, and with the demand for cooling expected to grow with the population and rising temperatures, there is an urgent need to reduce and gradually phase out cooling-related and energy-wasting hydrofluorocarbon technologies.
To achieve this, the government, in partnership with the private sector and other stakeholders, plans to implement various interventions such as licensing and quota systems for Hydrochlorofluorocarbons since 1 January 2015 and Hydrofluorocarbons as of 1 January 2025. The government also plans to train customs officers on the identification and control of import of ozone-depleting substances and technician training on good and safe service practices.
Furthermore, she said the government aims to establish a working formalized training and certification scheme for RAC technicians and enforce conformity of processes, products, or services with required good practices and standards through certification, regulation, and market incentives.
According to Iipumbu, awareness-raising activities and regular coordination meetings with stakeholders will also create an enabling environment for the outlined decarbonizing interventions.
“These measures are set to reduce direct emissions associated with refrigerant gases used by refrigerators and air conditioning devices during their operational lifetime.”
The Decarbonising Namibia Conference, hosted by the Heating, Ventilation, and Airconditioning (HVAC) Association of Namibia, aimed to encourage Namibians to oversee the development and management of Namibia’s economic regulatory regime and ensure a strategy that enhances a green and clean industry.
