Philanthropic fund supports climate friendly cooling for all.
Since 2015, the world has experienced the six warmest years on record. Heat stress is especially pronounced in developing countries, making air conditioning and refrigeration critical, not only for comfort, but for all aspects of life. However, electrical cooling is energy-intensive and relies on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—super-polluting greenhouse gases that are a major cause of warming.
Efficient and affordable alternatives were needed. In 2016, a group of philanthropists collaborated and pledged $51 million to create an action fund for cooling that would maximize the benefits of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of HFCs. This action fund—the Clean Cooling Collaborative (formerly the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program)—encourages countries to make market-wide efficiency and refrigerant improvements.
The program continues to work for climate-friendly cooling for all, with particular focus now on China, India, Southeast Asia, and the U.S.—regions that are expected to produce 75 percent of emissions from cooling by 2050. As more countries take action on cooling, collectively they will help to curb global emissions and create greater resilience.
