The Colombia Domestic Refrigeration project was intended to catalyse a significant reduction in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the sector. The project aimed to develop and implement regulations and standards, provide training to key players in the industry, conduct technical studies and provide equipment to safely replace refrigerant agents, improve energy efficiency and sustainably dispose of refrigerators at their end of life.
AMBERO and Oxford Policy Management conducted the Final Evaluation and Learning Exercise (ELE) regarding the project’s progress. Here are a few significant outcomes of the ELE:
- The project was very successful in supporting the transformation of Colombia’s refrigerator producers and their portfolios to ‘green refrigerators’. These new fridges combined the refrigerator agent R-600a with energy efficiency improvements to give most of the refrigerators on sale in Colombia a ‘green refrigerator’ classification.
- The project benefited from the valuable support of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development’s Ozone Technical Unit, which was instrumental in completing the technical components of the initiative.
- The ELE shows how the project progressed on issues of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, although they had no specific targets for them.
- Despite the challenges faced by the substitution scheme, due to externalities such as the economic impacts of Covid-19, the project provided valuable insights into consumer and retailer behaviour in the sector, helping to identify opportunities for enhancing future programmes including strengthening the EoL disposal workstream.
Following the main findings and recommendations of the ELE, the TSU and the project have compiled a management response to address the key points that were raised. The management response and the Final ELE report are now available in the Knowledge and Learning Hub. You can read them here.