Ghana - Deliver a training programme for the implementation of new regulations on cooling appliances and ozone-depleting substances 

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Rationale

The dominant source of short-lived climate pollutants in Ghana is HFC, which was estimated at 0.59 Mt in 2019. This was followed by methane emissions at a total of 0.33 Mt, while Black Carbon emissions stood at 0.3 Mt. All the three pollutants recorded increasing trends between 2016 and 2019, with BC having the highest growth of 21%, as compared to 12% for CH4 and 2% for HFC.

In 2022, the Ghanaian parliament approved legislation introducing Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for 17 new electrical appliances, including updated two (2) Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) systems. This legislation aimed to strengthen the Standards and Labelling (S&L) framework for regulated appliances. Ghana has also outlined emission reduction targets for the RAC sector in its 2021 Nationally Determined Contributions, yet full implementation faces obstacles.

Custom officials play a pivotal role in ensuring the implementation of these regulations, making it imperative to enhance their capacity through specialized training. The project seeks to enhance their knowledge, strengthen enforcement capabilities and awareness.

Objectives

 This project aims to achieve the following by its completion:

  • Strengthen the capacity of customs officials to enforce regulations for the importation of cooling appliances and ozone-depleting substances.
  • Strengthen the capacity of Ghana’s supervisory agencies (Customs, Energy Commission and Ghana Standards Authority) for Monitoring, Verification and Enforcement (MVE) of ozone depleting substances.
  • Disseminate communications materials on Ghana's efforts to prevent the environmental dumping of inefficient cooling appliances with banned or soon to be banned refrigerant.
Activities
  • Conduct a training needs assessment, focusing on new electrical appliances and ODS regulations, current MEPS/labelling requirements, MVE procedures, product certification processes, testing standards, and the condition of laboratory facilities. 
  • Develop training materials for customs officials, covering regulations, quality standards, testing procedures, certification requirements, and safety guidelines based on the assessment.
  • Conduct a comprehensive training workshop for approximately 700 customs officials and participants from customs training schools.
  • Conduct a training workshop for supervisory agencies, including key enforcement officers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Energy Commission (EC), focused on the technical parameters and test standards that are critical to the MVE process.
  • Conduct a hybrid training workshop for other developing nations to learn from best practices regarding measures against dumping.

Project Reference: [GH-24-007] Ghana - Deliver a training programme for the implementation of new regulations on cooling appliances and ozone-depleting substances