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.
As the planet heats up, access to clean cooling is becoming an increasingly urgent climate and development issue, especially for vulnerable and marginalized communities.
—Sonia Medina, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
How Change Happens
Tactics & Tools Philanthropy Made Possible
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: Multilateral treaties and global agreements motivate government action, and philanthropy helps educate stakeholders about the issues in those agreements. The Kigali Amendment updates the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, pairing the HFC phase-down with energy efficiency improvements, and targets an 80 percent reduction in the production and use of HFCs by midcentury.
TECHNICAL, POLICY, AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Technical assistance grants lead to faster implementation of solutions and additional public and private investment. More than $600 million in financing for efficient, climate-friendly cooling has been mobilized to date for implementers across many developing countries and sectors, from commercial and industrial applications to public and residential buildings.
Outcomes
190 countries
More than 190 countries have agreed to a fast phase-down of HFCs through the Kigali Amendment, and CCC has helped to develop 27 national cooling policies and plans.
$600 million
CCC has helped mobilize more than $600 million in financing for efficient, climate-friendly cooling to date—to implementers across many developing countries and sectors, from commercial and industrial applications to public and residential buildings.
4.4 billion
CCC’s past efforts are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4.4 billion tons by 2050.