As the intensity of heat stress increases with climate change, it will be an increasing challenge to provide additional cooling using conventional, inefficient technologies – and to supply the energy that will run this equipment sustainably.
Several of the sustainable development goals can only be reached with adequate cooling, to ensure the safety and quality of nutritious food, for safe vaccines and medicines, and to keeping homes, workplaces and schools productive and comfortable for people.
Done right, efficient, affordable and sustainable cooling in developing countries can help alleviate poverty, reduce food loss, improve health, manage energy demand, and combat climate change. It has the potential to advance the internationally agreed goals of the Paris Climate Agreement; the Sustainable Development Goals; and the HFC phase-down targets of the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment.
Sustainable Cooling is critical to achieving the SDG goals
In 2016, as part of the Montreal Protocol’s ‘Kigali Amendment’, countries committed to cut HFCs by more than 80% over 30 years. The ambitious phase down schedule could avoid up to 0.5oC of warming by 2100; If combined with efforts to maximize energy efficiency in cooling equipment, close to 1oC of global warming can be avoided by the end of the century.
According to the UNEP Technology and Assessment Panel report (2018), more than 80% of the global impact of cooling equipment is associated with the indirect emissions from the use of electricity, while the remaining emissions are due to the leakage GHG refrigerants. The use of efficient, clean cooling would have a major impact on climate and development benefits as cooling has a large, underdeveloped mitigation potential and will be necessary for adaptation to climate heat. Acting on cooling could enhance the overall mitigation ambition of the NDCs, and support countries’ progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement.
Winning the climate battle means putting the world on a course to achieve sustainable cooling by 2050, providing thermal comfort, safe and productive living conditions for all populations with minimal GHG emissions. This is a technological challenge as much as a financial and organizational challenge for governments, the private sector and international cooperation.