In 2020, global development efforts stalled as governments worked to address the health, social, and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, 2020 was the hottest year on record, and we learned and that in every region of the world, heatwaves have increased in their frequency and length since the 1950s.
These two factors, coupled with persistent energy access gaps in some of the world’s hottest and most populous countries, mean that the challenge of delivering access to sustainable cooling is likely to continue growing in size and scope.
The event marked the release of Chilling Prospects: Tracking Sustainable Cooling for All 2021, an update on our global progress on delivering Cooling for All. This year’s report will show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global cooling access gaps and discuss where a lack of cold chains could slow the pandemic recovery. The report will also detail new cooling solutions in action across the globe, deliver new national and sub-national data, and share insights on how national governments can measure and respond to access to cooling challenges.