Cooling is critical for health, prosperity, and the environment. From keeping vaccines and food fresh to ensuring comfortable home and work environments. It is also essential to adapt to warmer temperatures, which is difficult as most cooling is highly polluting due to the refrigerants used and the emissions from electricity generated to power cooling equipment.
Sustainable cooling for all underpins many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 7 on achieving sustainable energy for all by 2030, and SDG 13 on climate action. Today over 1.1 billion people are at significant risk from a lack of access to cooling and continued warming and demographic changes are likely to see these risks grow.
The report outlines the benefits of sustainable, clean cooling, and highlights projects undertaken by UK government and business both at home and abroad to foster cooling solutions. It also highlights opportunities for action as we build back better from Covid-19 and look towards the United Nations Climate Conference COP26 in 2021.
This report was authored by the Carbon Trust, the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program and the UN Environment Programme on behalf of the UN Cool Coalition and UK government. It is also available on the UN Cool Coalition’s website .
