Trade and industrialisation minister Lucia Iipumbu says Namibia has recognised that achieving its global warming targets and commitments requires sectoral approaches. Thus, a National Cooling Strategy has been drafted and will soon be submitted to parliament for endorsement.
She was speaking at a conference in Windhoek on Tuesday on the decarbonisation of the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning sector.
“The cooling strategy highlights the practical solutions and interventions to decarbonise the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning sector.
The cooling sector is deemed as some of the major contributors to global warming. With the demand for cooling expected to grow with the population and raising temperatures, there is an urgent need to cut cooling-related and energy-wasting hydrofluorocarbon technologies,” Iipumbu stated.
Namibia initiated the National Policy on Climate Change in 2011 to translate the government’s aim and commitment to tackle global warming.
The minister noted that Namibia’s commitment through its cooling strategy emphasises a licensing and quota system for hydrochlorofluorocarbons since 1 January 2015, and hydrofluorocarbons as of 1 January 2025; the training of customs officers on the identification and control of the import of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and ODS-based equipment; and technician training on good service practices, use of hydrocarbon refrigerants (as an alternative technology), and certification.
She said the above measures will result in a reduction of direct emissions associated with refrigerant gases used by refrigerators and air-conditioning devices during their operational lifetime.
Moreover, the minister stated that the structure of the conference is part of a government mandate which encourages Namibians to oversee the development and management of the country’s economic regulatory regime, and ensuring a strategy that enhances a green and clean industry.
Climate change is altering climatic conditions globally, as a result influencing production and the way of living.
Thus, governments around the world, including Namibia, are committed to binding targets with the goal of limiting global warming to 2°C.
Achieving this goal is heavily dependent on individual nations - together with their private sector players - acting and working together to reduce their emissions and replace hydrocarbons with renewable power sources and climate-friendly equipment.
Iipumbu added: “This further encourages sectoral innovation to replace carbon-emitting equipment and production models as part of the just transition to decarbonising economies to ensure sustainability and future production”.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) stated in a report last year that climate change is likely to have huge implications for Namibia’s society and economy over the short, medium, and long-term.
“Namibia will stand a better chance of tackling the challenges caused by climate change if it prepares for them, and enacts the right policies and actions at the right time,” the report reads.
It added that while Namibia has well-established institutional infrastructure to develop and implement climate policies, the finance ministry has a key role to play in designing, enacting and financing many of these policies and actions.