Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) has issued a
National Cooling Action Plan (NCAP) final report outlining a roadmap for sustainable cooling aligned with the country’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution and 2050 net zero target. The NCAP combines measures on energy-efficient cooling technologies, refrigerant management, and passive cooling for buildings and cities.
The report estimates Viet Nam’s cooling sector consumed 71.38 TWh in 2022 (approx. 244 trillion BTU), including 65.95 TWh of grid electricity (approx. 225 trillion BTU) plus fuel used by mobile air conditioning and transport refrigeration (0.71 million m³ diesel and 1.23 million m³ gasoline; approx. 188 million and 325 million US gal). That load represented 25.2% of the country’s 261.686 TWh of generated and purchased power (approx. 893 trillion BTU). The cooling sector’s greenhouse-gas emissions were estimated at 64.68 MtCO2e in 2022 (approx. 71.3 million short tons CO2e), with indirect emissions from energy use representing the larger share.
For energy efficiency, the NCAP sets 2022–2030 improvement targets for new equipment across seven sub-sectors, including +50% for residential and commercial AC and for domestic refrigeration, and +20% for central AC and chillers and for commercial refrigeration. Targets for 2022–2030 also include +15% for mobile air conditioning and industrial refrigeration, and +10% for transport refrigeration, alongside longer-term targets through 2050.
On refrigerants, the NCAP targets refrigerant recovery, recycling, reuse and disposal of 20% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Sub-sector pathways in the plan include a complete conversion to R-32 in residential and commercial AC, introduction of R-290 by 2025 with penetration targets of 5% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, and accelerated adoption of R-1234yf in mobile air conditioning with penetration targets of 25% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Domestic refrigeration is targeted for full conversion to R-600a by 2029, while commercial refrigeration targets R-290/R-600a for standalone and small remote systems by 2030 and a transition to HFOs/blends for larger systems with elimination of HFCs by 2045; industrial refrigeration targets include phasing out new high-GWP HFCs (including R-404A, R-507A and R-410A) from 2029 and R-134a from 2035, and transport refrigeration includes phasing out new R-404A from 2029 and R-134a from 2035, with a transition to R-1234yf/blends (GWP < 750).
Under its net zero target scenario modelling, the report estimates potential electricity-demand savings of 9.91 TWh in 2030 and 69.37 TWh in 2050 (approx. 33.8 and 237 trillion BTU). It also estimates direct emission reduction potential from refrigerants of 7.77 MtCO2e by 2030 and 20.04 MtCO2e by 2050 (approx. 8.56 and 22.1 million short tons CO2e), and projects total cooling-sector emissions could fall to 3.80 MtCO2e by 2050 (approx. 4.19 million short tons), compared with a business-as-usual peak of 116.38 MtCO2e in 2045 (approx. 128.3 million short tons). The NCAP also recommends scaling urban cooling planning by replicating Urban Cooling Action Plans in additional cities and integrating urban cooling targets and passive cooling measures into local plans.
