The Steering Committee acts as the core governance body of the Coalition and conducts tasks directional and strategic in nature, to:

• Oversee development of, approve, foster and track progress against the Work Plan and Strategy;
• Ratify membership applications received by the Cool Coalition Secretariat;
• Where appropriate, endorse Member activities for Cool Coalition support as contributing directly to the Work Plan and Strategy;
• Approve formation of Cool Coalition working groups according to agreed requirements for initiating such groups;
• Engage with donors, financiers and investors to identify opportunities for linked funding sources for both Cool Coalition Member activities and the Secretariat;
• Oversee production of an annual progress report that sets out the Cool Coalition’s achievements and progress, as well as providing clarity about funds under administration and disbursed during the period.

The Cool Coalition 2024-26 Steering Committee Members are:

• Ben Hartley, Programme Manager, Sustainable Cooling, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)
• Axum Teferra, Associate Director, Clean Cooling Collaborative
• Rusmir Music, Operations Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group
• Andrea Voigt, VP, Head of Global Public Affairs & Sustainability, Danfoss Climate Solutions
• Etienne Gonin, Sustainable Cooling, Chemicals and Waste Management Technical Specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• Simon Benmarraze, Team Lead, Technology and Infrastructure, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
• Paul Huggins, Associate Director, Energy Transition, The Carbon Trust
• Jean Francis Sempore, Executive Director, ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)
• Kobie Brand, Deputy Secretary General, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI)
• Yosr Allouche, Director General, International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR)
• Larissa Gross, Programme Lead, Place-Based Transitions, E3G
• Vishnu Sasidharan, Vice President – Innovation / Climate Technologies, Pluss Advanced Technologies
• Pauline Lucas, Policy Director, Euroheat & Power
• Philippe Coquelle, Chief Development Officer, National Central Cooling Company PJSC (DFM: Tabreed)
• Mr Pramod Singh, Senior Director of Research, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE)
• Dr. Qiang Gao, Vice General Manager of Sanhua Green Energy Company, Sanhua Holding Group
• Praphul Chander Sharma, National Focal Points Coordinator for all Member Countries/ Distributed Solar Specialist, International Solar Alliance
• Prima Madan, Director, Cooling and Energy Efficiency, International, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
• Petter Nekså, Chief Scientist, SINTEF Energy Research
• Graeme Maidment, Lead Technical Advisor – Cooling, UK Govt Department of Energy Security and Net Zero
• Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe, Director General, Nigeria National Council on Climate Change, Secretariat (NCCCS)
• Oomeshwar Sewtohul, Director of Energy Efficiency, Mauritius Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities/Energy Efficiency Management Office
• Anders Ørnemark, Chief Advisor on Green Diplomacy & Climate, Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Moiruza Mohamed, Deputy Director General, Maldives Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy
• Debolina Kundu, Director, India’s National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)

To expedite decision-making and operational matters, a four-person Executive is elected by the Steering Committee Members to work closely with the Secretariat on an ongoing basis, and determine whether decisions on strategic or operating issues must be referred to the CCSC. The Executive meets on a monthly basis, and corresponds on a more frequent basis to allow for more regular guidance and input on decision-making to the Secretariat’s work, and more regular updates to both Steering Committee Members and the wider Membership.

The elected Executive is composed by:

• Andrea Voigt, Head of Global Public Affairs, Danfoss Climate Solutions
• Brian Dean, Head of Energy Efficiency and Cooling, Sustainable Energy for All
• Axum Teferra, Associate Director, Clean Cooling Collaborative
• Graeme Maidment, Heating and Cooling Technical Lead Mission Innovation, UK BEIS

The Cool Coalition Secretariat is housed within UNEP’s Climate Change Division. The Secretariat manages the coordination functions of the Cool Coalition, including day-to-day operating decisions relating to advocacy and communications activities, the coordination of Working Groups, and other activities supported under the Workplan.

The Secretariat works with the Executive to ensure that its activities are in line with the Workplan approved by the CCSC. Meet the Secretariat team at this link.

To ensure that all Cool Coalition activities remain grounded in technical feasibility, and will achieve the requirements of broader transition to zero-carbon economies, the Cool Coalition’s efforts are advised by a group of technical experts from the following organisations: UNEP, IEA, IRENA, World Bank, SEforALL, RMI, CEPT University, Carbon Trust, LBNL, ClimateWorks.

The Technical Advisory Group gives guidance and feedback to deliverables and milestones by Cool Coalition members and Working Groups, including to the development of the Global Cooling Stocktake Report.

Please find the Terms of Reference TORs for the Technical Committee available here.

The core of the Cool Coalition’s work is driven by members-led working groups, focused on priority intervention areas in the cooling sector.

You can find the list of working groups and the contacts of their facilitators at this link.