Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva has called for faster implementation of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, urging countries to mobilise the partnerships and resources needed to expand access to efficient, climate-friendly cooling technologies.

The Kigali Amendment is an international agreement to gradually reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), powerful greenhouse gases used in cooling and refrigeration. It is a legally binding agreement under international law.

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HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer and were introduced as replacements for CFCs. However, they are potent greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, prompting countries to agree to phase down their use through the Kigali Amendment.

Speaking in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at an event dubbed the ‘Reviving the Friends of Kigali Amendment Event,’ Nsengiyumva said the agreement had demonstrated what countries can achieve when they work together on a shared environmental challenge.

"But adoption was only the beginning. The real test we now face is one of delivery; that is, how quickly we can turn the commitments we made into tangible improvements in people&039;s lives,” he noted.

"That speed matters more than we sometimes acknowledge. It can mean the difference between a hospital that can safely refrigerate vaccines and medicines, and one that cannot. It can mean the difference between a farmer who preserves her harvest, reaches the market at the right time, and earns a fair return, and one who watches that harvest spoil before it ever reaches consumers. And at the global level, it can mean the difference between limiting future warming and facing climate impacts that become increasingly difficult to manage,” he added.

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He said Rwanda is already applying this approach through the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain, which brings together technology, skills, research and investment to address challenges in food systems, healthcare and other sectors.

"We are building this as proof of concept, and our hope is that this proof can scale far beyond our own borders. The renewed Friends of the Kigali Amendment can help magnify that scale,” he said.

"The priorities set before us are clear: Bring every country into the Amendment; accelerate implementation; mobilise the partnerships and resources needed to deliver it; and ensure that industry plays its full role in making efficient, climate-friendly cooling technologies available at scale,” he added.

Nsengiyumva said the goal was to ensure that the benefits of the Kigali Amendment reach people, businesses and communities as quickly as possible.

He said achieving this would require cooperation beyond governments, noting that the private sector, financial institutions, civil society, philanthropy and other organisations have an important role to play.

"We need the continued partnership of philanthropy, civil society, the private sector, financial institutions, and organisations such as the Climate and Clean Air Coalition because the resources, the technology and the reach to move at the speed this moment demands sit as much with them as with us,” he added.