Green Cooling Initiative III: Advancing the transformation of refrigerants towards sustainable cooling in Viet Nam

In 2019, by ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, Viet Nam committed to phasing down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – synthetic gases commonly used in cooling and refrigeration, which 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 this year 2024. With the objective to enhance the use of natural refrigerants in cooling sector in Viet Nam, the project “Green Cooling Initiative III” (GCI III) aimed to: (i)strengthen the capacity of both public and private stakeholders in green cooling practices and; (ii) promote Green Cooling in Viet Nam by facilitating the transformation of the cooling sector towards energy efficient technologies promoting natural refrigerants (i.e. carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, ammonia, etc.) contributing to achieving Viet Nam’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050. 

Over three years of implementation, from 2022 to 2024, the project successfully achieved its goals, yielding impactful results and accomplishments. On 24 October, the closing workshop of GCI III was held in Hanoi by GIZ – the GCI III Implementing Agency in Viet Nam, with the participation of Representatives from Viet Nam’s National Ozone Unit (NOU), Department of Climate Change (DCC), Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, and other partner organisations, experts and project implementers. 

In his welcome address, Mr. Oemar Idoe, Cluster Coordinator of GIZ Viet Nam Environment, Climate Change and Agriculture , applauded the project’s achievements: “Today I would like to congratulate the joint GCI III project team from DCC and GIZ as well as its cooperation partners such as Hanoi Industrial Vocational College and Hanoi Vocational College of Electronics and Refrigeration  for the achievements of the Green Cooling initiative III in Viet Nam. We also note the decision of the Vietnamese government to join the voluntary Global Cooling Pledge at COP 28, which is an encouraging sign of Vietnam*s commitment to advance sustainable cooling.”. 

In the “Strategic Forum on Green Cooling Activity Deployment in Viet Nam” taking place in the morning, the project results of were highlighted by Mr. Nguyen Ba Tu, GCI III Project Coordinator for Department of Climate Change (DCC), Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MONRE). Accordingly, GCI III has supported 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 Viet Nam’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in 2022. 

Additionally, a study was conducted by an expert team from Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Dr.-Ing. Trinh Quoc Dung and Dr. Nguyen Ba Chien): on Data collection and elaborate a market study in the domestic and retail refrigeration subsectors under the food cold chain sector in Viet Nam, and (i) Market Analysis Results and Proposed Transformative Plan to Green Cooling Technologies in Vietnam Food Cold Chain.

The cold chain sector has also become a significant and rapidly expanding market in Viet Nam. According to FiinGroup, the participation of both domestic and international investors has been robust, leading to a 44.8% increase in the design capacity of cold storage facilities between 2020 and 2023. The logistics market for cold chains in Viet Nam reached a value of 211.2 million USD in 2023, with projections indicating a 70% increase in cold storage capacity over the next five years, from 1 million to 1.7 million pallets. The growth of the cold chain and domestic refrigeration or refrigeration sector in general has led to a significant increase in energy consumption and GHG emissions. The average HFC consumption during this period reached 5,700 tons, equivalent to 10.7 million tons of CO₂ eq. Notably, a 2% increase in 2022 HFC consumption led to a 9% rise in CO₂ emissions, indicating a shift towards higher-emitting HFCs.

The Market study, conducted in shopping malls, large and medium supermarkets and convenience stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, offered an overview of the current market for domestic refrigerators and freezers in households, stand-alone and remote refrigerators/freezers and the current market penetration of natural refrigerants.

Based on these findings, Dr.-Ing. Trinh Quoc Dung proposed a National Transformation Plan outlining both short-tearm (2024 – 2026) and long-term (2027- 2040) strategies for the transformation of two subsectors transformation to using green cooling technologies. The experts emphasised the importance of collaboration among key ministries and relevant stakehoders,  adoption of low/ultra-low global warming potential refigerants, renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, promotion of technician training and certification, implementation regulatory compliance and monitoring systems, and support for research and development for innovation technology and alternative refrigerants. The discussion that followed provided insightful exchanges and knowledge sharing among representatives from MONRE, the private sector, experts and the project’s implementers.  

In the afternoon session, the Strategic Forum on Training and Capacity Building for the Transformation to Green Cooling in the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Sector in Viet Nam, representatives from vocational colleges shared results and achievements from the successful two Hands-on Practical Training on Safe Use of Natural Refrigerants provided to 30 Trainers and Practitioners from 8 vocational colleges and 3 RAC enterprises. The following five Replicated Practical Training Courses in Safe Use of Natural Refrigerants and Green Cooling Approach have been delivered to the first 75 Vocational Students from Hanoi Industrial Vocational College and Hanoi Vocational College of Electronics and Refrigeration. Additionally, to promote gender responsiveness in the Green Cooling sector, the vocational programme was tailored to better accommodate female participation. 

Dr. Tran Xuan Ngoc, Rector of Hanoi Vocational College of Electronics and Refrigeratory Technics, highly appreciated the efforts of the GCI III project in strengthening capacity on Green Cooling and the Safe Use of Hydrocarbon-based Refrigerants for source officials, technicians, and trainers. He expressed hope that the GCI III project could serve as a crucial foundation for implementing similar initiatives in Viet Nam in the future. 

For the closing remark, Ms. Nguyen Dang Thu Cuc – Viet Nam NOU Coordinator, DCC stated: “The project has introduced good practices in the technology of using natural refrigerants to Viet Nam, these technologies, when applied synchronously in training programs at vocational colleges, will allow trainees to meet the increasing demand and requirements of the market for the environment, health and well-being aspect.” 

For more information about the GCI III project, please visit: Green Cooling Initiative III | Internationale Klimaschutzinitiative (IKI)

To learn more about the GCI III project deliverables, please visit: IKI Document Library Archives – International Climate Initiative (IKI) in Viet Nam