Rwanda: How Govt Is Tackling Illegal Refrigerant Trade

What the report says

Rwanda has intensified efforts to curb illegal trade in refrigerants that can damage the ozone layer or contribute to global warming, according to The New Times via AllAfrica. The report says the push is part of Rwanda’s wider drive to meet international environmental commitments, especially as Kigali hosts the 38th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP38) from November 2 to 6, alongside events marking a decade since the Kigali Amendment was adopted in Rwanda in 2016.

The Rwanda Environment Management Authority says the government has introduced several enforcement tools, including training for customs and environmental officers, an electronic licensing system for imports and exports, a legal order governing ozone-depleting substances, import quotas and digital monitoring. These measures are meant to detect smuggling and misdeclaration of controlled refrigerants used in cooling equipment. The article says Rwanda has already phased out CFCs and is working through a long-term plan to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which do not harm the ozone layer but are powerful greenhouse gases.

The report notes that Rwanda ratified the Kigali Amendment in 2017 and introduced an HFC consumption freeze in 2024. Its targets include an 80% reduction in HFC consumption by 2045, with intermediate milestones in 2029, 2035 and 2040. Officials and experts also stressed that technicians and professional associations will be important to compliance, since they handle refrigerants in everyday practice.

The article adds that UNIDO is helping equip Rwanda’s centres with refrigerant reclamation and identification tools, supporting efforts to improve detection, recovery and proper management of controlled substances.