Rwanda is considering a new mechanism to ease access to affordable and eco-friendly fridges and air conditioners that are not harmful to the Earth's ozone layer and causing climate change.
The ozone layer protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays.
But since the late 1980s, scientists have sounded the alarm about a hole in this shield, caused by ozone-depleting substances including chlorofluorocarbons, dubbed CFCs, often found in refrigerators, aerosols and solvents.
Ozone-depleting gases are also potent greenhouse gases, and without a ban, the world could have seen additional warming of up to 1 degree Celsius, according to a 2021 study in the journal Nature.
The planet has already warmed around 1.2 degrees since the industrial revolution, and scientists have warned that it should be limited to 1.5 degrees to prevent the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
Warming beyond 1.5 degrees would dramatically increase the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods, and food shortages, scientists have reported.
According to information shared by Rwanda Environment Management Authority, there is a scheme dubbed " A green on-wage financing mechanism " to make energy-efficient and climate-friendly refrigerators and ACs more affordable.
The scheme is under Rwanda Cooling Finance Initiative (R-COOL FI) to promote energy-efficient and climate-friendly cooling and recycling of existing inefficient systems.
The project aims to unlock $4 million in financing to support the purchase of 12,500 energy-efficient and climate-friendly cooling products in Rwanda by 2024.
Martine Uwera, Rwanda's Focal Point of Montreal Protocol, said the initiative which is part of implementing Kigali Amendment can potentially help overcome key barriers, including the burden of upfront investment and the need for collaterals.
The program incentivises households and micro-entrepreneurs to return end-of-life cooling equipment and acquire certified higher-efficiency cooling appliances in exchange through a dedicated take-back scheme in partnership with interested vendors and an e-waste management company.
The energy-saving and eco-friendly refrigerators and air conditioners are discounted through credit at a discounted price, she said.
By 2020, Rwanda had drastically reduced, by 54%, the importation of gases known as 'hydro- chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)' that deplete the ozone layer as part of implementing the Montreal Protocols.
Rwanda reduced the importation of HCFCs from 4.1 tonnes in 2010 to 1.89 tonnes in 2020.
There was still a gap of 1.89 tonnes which Rwanda seeks to phase out by 2030.
"The importers have to import eco-friendly gases used in the equipment. We want to improve the financing mechanism so that consumers buy this equipment and also pay through their salary or income via banks," she said.
According to environmentalists, there is a need for increased uptake of ensuring energy efficiency of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are harmful to Ozone layer and causing climate change, according to environmentalists.
The call to increase uptake and investments in energy efficiency of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment follows a new UN-backed assessment report which suggests that Earth's ozone layer could recover completely within decades if more efforts are invested in phasing out ozone-depleting chemicals across the world.
"Consumers should embrace fridges with new technology, for instance, that consume less electricity because they are not harmful to the ozone layer. There is a need for more incentives and investments to finance and increase the uptake," Adeline Icyimpaye, an engineer at Munyax Eco Ltd, a distributor of renewable energy, told The New Times.
She said that besides saving the ozone layer, the technologies, if increased, will also save money for consumers.
" If equipment was consuming 5,000 Watt and this reduces to 1,000 Watt, it will both save money but also reduce harmful emissions to the ozone layer," she said, adding that old fridges should be replaced in the country.
Recent studies indicate that there are an estimated over 88,000 refrigerators in Rwanda, of which an estimated 64,000 are classified as old and that this wastes electricity worth approximately Rwf4 billion annually.
Earth's ozone layer on track to recover
Earth's ozone layer is on track to recover completely within decades, as ozone-depleting chemicals are phased out across the world, according to a new scientists' report.
If global policies stay in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 levels by 2040 for most of the world, the assessment found.
For polar areas, the timeframe for recovery is longer: 2045 over the Arctic and 2066 over the Antarctic.
" Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done - as a matter of urgency - to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases and so limit temperature increase," said Secretary General for the World Meteorological Organization Petteri Taalas.
Compliance with the 2016 Kigali Amendment
"Compliance with the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which requires phase down of production and consumption of some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), is estimated to avoid 0.3-0.5°°C of warming by 2100," shows the report.
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If globally implemented, the Kigali Amendment has the potential to prevent up to 80 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent of emissions by 2050, while continuing to protect the ozone layer.
The climate deal was signed in 2016 in Kigali.
The scientists' report indicates that, "The 2017-2019 CO2-eq. emissions of HFCs are approximately 20% lower than those projected in the scenario without national regulations or the controls of the Kigali Amendment."
According to the report, concerted efforts to improve the energy efficiency of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment could lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of the same order as those from the global implementation of the Kigali Amendment.
"These estimated benefits of improving energy efficiency are highly dependent on the greenhouse gas emission rate from power generation and the pace of decarbonization in the energy sector," it said.
Following the controls of the Kigali Amendment, HFC emissions in 2050 are projected to be lower in the updated 2022 Kigali Amendment scenario, compared to emissions in the 2018 scenario without control measures.
The usage of feedstock chemicals for the production of HFCs will likely decline because of the Kigali Amendment, the report highlights.
