Integrated Program for HFC Phasing Down and Sustainable Cooling for Tajikistan

The project objective is to support Tajikistan in meeting its Montreal Protocol Kigali Amendment obligation to rapidly reduce consumption of HFC by 70% in 2029. This widely used cooling infrastructure refrigerant as well as an insulating foam blowing agent has high global warming potential (GWP) and is an important contributor to global warming when emitted to the atmosphere. Tajikistan has a significantly greater HFC consumption obligations relative to economically similar countries given its status as a non-Article 5 party rather than an Article 5, developing country under the Montreal Protocol. Meeting this challenge will involve the accelerated replacement of existing cooling infrastructure and adoption of available low GWP/high energy efficiency alternatives. The project is designed to direct GEF support to the country based on an integrated strategy combining i) aggressive introduction of progressive import controls on HFCs and HFC based equipment; ii) restricting emissions and conserving refrigerant through development of life cycle refrigerant management (LRM) practices and introducing monitoring techniques to optimize equipment operation; iii) leveraging investment in accelerated cooling equipment replacement through demonstration of modern cooling technology; and iv) facilitating innovative financial incentives for expanded new investment by end users. An integral part of this will be strengthening expanded institutional and refrigeration servicing capacity human resource in the form of training and equipment. In terms global environmental benefit, the project is estimated to eliminate 2,096,043 t CO2Eq in direct HFC emissions and 740,700 t CO2 Eq indirect emissions through energy efficiency improvements as well as reduce HFC chemical demand by 903 t that would otherwise be released during its implementation period.