Fresh ideas guide the way forward for the refrigeration and air conditioning sector

The second inter-ministerial workshop organized by the German Development Cooperation, GIZ in Costa Rica, in the context of the project "Fresh contributions to combat climate change II (C4 II)” took place on November 1st, 2023. This was a space to develop joint strategic actions for the refrigeration and air conditioning sector (RAC).

The workshop, which brought together representatives from the Directorate of Environmental Quality Management (DIGECA); the Directorate of Energy and the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), aimed to review strategic actions in the sector in compliance with the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali amendment, as well as the climate commitments (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. The directorates present shared progress in their main tasks related to the RAC sector.

As part of the agenda, the expert in MRV systems, Martin Brown-Santirso, presented general information on its conceptual design, the increase in the ambition of climate goals, and the potential for modeling scenarios of the RAC sector for Costa Rica.

It was noted as the main area of action for reducing emissions in the current context of Costa Rica, the change of refrigerants.

In addition, Martin mentioned that increased ambition is not only achieved by increasing goals, but also by expecting integrated and creative solutions for each context such as:

• The use of SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound,

• The determination of specific actions to achieve the goals,

• Improving the availability of data and information: through, for example, updated RAC inventories and strictly enforced MRV systems.

DIGECA: Emissions Inventory

In this space, DIGECA presented an update of the emissions inventory of the sector, which began its construction in March 2023.

The inventory will include the identification of equipment in service and all refrigerants circulating in the country, used for maintenance of this equipment. The results are expected to be shared in the coming months.

National Meteorological Institute: Transparency Report Results

For its part, the IMN, which currently forms the NDC technical group for our country, showed the results of the biennial transparency report under the Paris Agreement and the challenges faced by the RAC sector to meet its climate goals.

Among the main challenges, it was noted that metrics work remains an imperative need, allowing the determination of clear lines of action for the fulfillment of country commitments, such as the National Decarbonization Plan.

The Energy Directorate: Level of ambition of minimum energy efficiency standards

Members shared on possible lines of action to increase the ambition of the standards of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment entering the country.

In order of hierarchy, it is the Central American Technical Regulations that dictate compliance of equipment being imported into Costa Rica. These regulations currently exist for inverter and direct discharge air conditioners, and the regulation for domestic refrigeration is expected to come into force in June 2024.

Vision for the coming months

This activity will allow the coordination of the directorates and departments to work jointly on proposals. In addition, efforts will continue with the accreditation of the ICE laboratory as an inspection body for commercial refrigeration equipment, parallel to the start of the contracting process for the development of the environmental labeling standard for this equipment.

Another line of action prioritized responds to the evaluation of proposals for fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to promote and accelerate the transition of equipment in the country.

Now, the representatives will follow up on the actions and the sustainability of a committee that will make it possible to periodically revisit these strategic issues to carry out the transformation of the sector.