In 2022, Niger requested UNIDO to prepare and submit on their behalf the first Kigali HFC Implementation Plan – prior to the approval of cost guidelines – what were the driving factors behind this?

Niger is highly committed to the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as it ratified the Kigali Amendment on 29 August 2018. It also initiated a wide range of preparatory activities for the HFC phase-down. The National Ozone Unit (NOU) updated the licensing system to include HFCs and their mixtures in December 2020. The NOU then reviewed the policy options that would facilitate the phase-down of HFCs, to define short-term measures that could be included in the future strategy. Based on this analysis, the NOU commenced awareness raising and consultation with stakeholders (governmental actors, the private sector, the Association of Refrigeration Professionals (APFN), importers of refrigerants and large workshops) on the development of the KIP. The country was then well placed to begin the first phase of its HFC phase-down plan.

Article 5 parties that have ratified the Kigali Amendment are required to implement an HFC consumption freeze (at baseline) in 2024 and must achieve a 10% reduction by 2029. Given this timeline, the Government of Niger took the decision to submit the first phase of the KIP in the absence of cost guidelines.

What was the process for the development of the KIP Stage I proposal?

When Niger began working on the KIP in early 2022, there were no cost guidelines and little guidance existed, beyond the recommendation to limit the duration and funding of Stage I to 2030. Moreover, the data required for the calculating the baseline, derived from the 2020 to 2022 consumption, was not available since the consumption values for 2022 were unknown.

Niger has always been committed to the Montreal Protocol process; implementing activities in a timely manner, to meet the compliance commitments even in adverse local and global conditions. The NOU team follows up closely with stakeholders to ensure an equitable and fair process in allocating quotas that meet the market requirements, while complying with the phase-out schedule. Through their dedication and presence in every event–whether training sessions or for the disbursement of tools in all regions of the country, the NOU team has gained the trust of various stakeholders.

The KIP preparation process involved periodic consultations through conference calls with the NOU, the national consultants, the technical expert, and the UNIDO management team. The NOU formed a Steering Committee made up of public and private parties to help with the collection of information and the validation of the elements of the strategy. The trust gained by the NOU among the members of the Steering Committee ensured that the exchanges were open and focused on the common benefit of the country.

The KIP covers more substances and includes more sub-sectors than the Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP). This added a certain complexity as to what to include in Stage I, which coincides with HPMP Stage II in Niger. It was crucial to include the elements that could not be included in the final Stage of the HPMP due to the limited funding available to Low Volume Consumption Countries (LVC) like Niger. The approach was based on a concept introduced by the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP)’s Decision XXXI/1 Replenishment Task Force (RTF) report of 2019.  Termed  “Maintain and Build” (M&B), the strategy states that the spending on programmes under the HPMP to phase-out HCFCs are maintained while using the KIP Stage I to build on those programmes to phase down HFCs.

The M&B strategy has enabled Niger to prioritize activities according to its needs in three priority sectors: refrigeration, air conditioning and automotive air conditioning.

The main activities for the sectors are:

1. Training, including updating curricula;
2. Awareness campaigns for industry stakeholders;
3. Programs for end users;
4. Support for the Association of Refrigeration Professionals in Niger (APFN) and other associations in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector.

In order to engage additional stakeholders in the development of the KIP, the Government of Niger adopted Order No. 0042/MELCD/SG/DGEDD on 22 February 2023 on the creation, attribution and composition of a National Ozone Committee to include other stakeholders involved in HFCs (Energy Sector, Standardization etc.).

For the Parties that are currently collecting data for their KIP proposals, what is the critical information that needs to be collected?

The methodology for collecting information is similar to that under the HPMP or the ODS-alternatives survey conducted in 2017, but is more rigorous. This is necessary to define the history and trends by substance and by sub-sector.

The first element of the data collection process is the pre-preparation stage. The NOU and the Steering Committee worked together to ensure that respondents understood the importance of providing accurate data, necessary for preparing the strategy, and that they would respond honestly and accurately. In particular, it was important to clarify the purpose of the survey and that the results would be used only to determine key decision points, from the national HFC reduction targets to the funding for the projects.

The second element of the data collection process is to prepare a well-designed questionnaire that maximizes the information collected. Redundant data makes questionnaires long and difficult to fill, while unclear questions can lead to confusion and wrong input.

The last element after the collection of data is the analysis stage. Aggregated data needs to be checked against economic indicators and technical ones. For example, on the economic side, the number of domestic refrigerators in the country is mainly a factor of the number of households with access to electricity, while the number of commercial refrigeration equipment is a factor of the number of businesses in the cold chain. On the technical side, the consumption in a certain sub-sector is a function of the leakage rate in that sub-sector plus the amounts used in charging equipment at local assemblers and on site.

Accuracy is critical. Inaccurate data can reflect on the credibility of data presented under Article 7 and in the Country Programme data reports. Exaggerated numbers can easily be challenged, while under-reported data will reflect on the baseline calculations and deprive the country of funding that could otherwise be available.

The essential data required are: socio-economic data, information on the regulatory framework, data on use and consumption, equipment bank, data in the refrigeration servicing sector, vocational and training schools, associations of refrigeration professionals, information on customs, commercial and anti-fraud capacities, and finally, standards and codes. In collaboration with UNIDO, the NOU developed a set of key tools that allow the countries to develop and effectively implement their KIP in view of achieving the objectives of the Kigali Amendment to honour Niger’s commitments to the international community.

What are the key lessons learned from this process and what are your recommendations for the Parties that are now developing their KIP proposals?

The main lessons learned in the preparation of the Niger KIP was the need for discipline in presenting the funding request when little guidance and background was available. There was no template to follow so the team used a mixture of what they termed as “stability and flexibility”. Stability in the sense that irrespective of the project being presented, the Multilateral Fund (MLF) and the Executive Committee (ExCom) expect a certain degree of uniformity. Flexibility, on the other hand, introduces a certain degree of innovation in the approach whenever possible by developing a set of tools to provide justification for various activities proposed for Stage I.

Second, a sectoral approach for budgeting the activities under the KIP provides a good basis for integrating the KIP activities with those under the HPMP and identifies the areas where parallel implementation of activities optimizes operations.

Third, is the need for the prioritization of sectors, another innovation introduced in the Niger project document. Since the baseline calculation is based on tonnes of CO₂ equivalent that is equal to metric tonnes multiplied by the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the substance, the prioritization process is more complex. It has to take into consideration the substance and the sub-sector (or the application) where that substance is used. Under the HPMP, different substances are used for different applications, for example HCFC-141b used in foams while HCFC-22 used in the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector across all of its applications. Under the KIP, for example, HFC-134a and R-404A are both used for the same sub-sector as in commercial refrigeration; however, HFC-134a is also used for mobile air conditioning (MAC) where R-404A is not used. Prioritization under KIP is based on selecting certain factors and then rating them according to agreed criteria. The rating process was through voting by members of the Steering Committee, which considered all viewpoints.

Finally, the anticipation of comments from the MLF Secretariat and working with them to arrive at the best-negotiated proposal to present to the ExCom. The MLF Secretariat needs to justify their recommendations to the ExCom to ensure a swift approval and can provide useful tips on improving the proposal.

The main lessons learned include:

– The involvement of all stakeholders is decisive in the process;

– The collection of reliable data is essential;

– Communication with stakeholders on the process is necessary.

Recommendations for Parties currently developing their KIP proposals are:

– Choose a leading agency such as UNIDO for the submission of the proposal to the ExCom;

– Carry out an exhaustive survey to collect data and information from various actors;

– Invite the Parties that are currently developing their KIP proposals to redouble their efforts to address the problems related to climate change and the protection of the ozone layer.