Efficient and Clean Cooling

The Challenge

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that at 1.5ºC of global warming, an estimated 2.3 billion people could be both exposed and vulnerable to heatwave events: a threshold that could be reached as early as 2030.

In a warming world, over 1 billion people globally are already deemed at risk from the lack of cooling systems (SEforALL 2020).  Overwhelmingly, many developing countries still lack access to cooling —from cold chains and refrigeration to ensure the safety of foods, medicine, and vaccines; to space cooling to ensure comfortable, healthy, and productive homes, institutions, and workplaces The need to adapt and build resilience in a rapidly warming climate —together with growing populations, urbanization, and rising disposable income levels in developing countries —are driving the exponentially growing demand for cooling services in many developing countries, which is associated with a projected rapid increase in cooling-related energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (associated with both the GHG-intensity of electricity grids and refrigerants in cooling equipment). This, in turn, puts pressure on already strained energy systems and hampers efforts to curb climate change.