Background

The urgency and untapped opportunity of sustainable cooling led the UAE COP28 President to launch in Dubai in December 2023 the Global Cooling Pledge, as a mandated outcome of the Presidency’s Climate Action Agenda. The Pledge now has 72 country signatories alongside 80 non-state actors. This Pledge commits Governments to a roadmap of actions on energy efficiency, passive cooling, and the phase-down of HFC, which can cut over 60% of cooling GHGs by 2050 while expanding access to cooling and heat resilience for billions through implementation. 

However, only 25% of countries have minimum policies or regulations in place that enable action on cooling efficiency, passive cooling for urban planning and design, and fast refrigerant phase-down (UNEP, 2024). Where these are in place, implementation and enforcement remain inadequate, and there remains a significant gap in finance. Finally, there is an urgent need for national-to-local collaboration, vital to closing existing discontinuities in finance, policy, and delivery.  As per the UNEP-led Cool Coalition and IFC report ‘Cooler Finance: Mobilizing Investment for the Developing World’s Sustainable Cooling Needs’, the estimated finance required to address the gap in access to cooling in developing countries and deliver on the Global Cooling Pledge is between $400-800bn (IFC-UNEP 2024).  

In this context, the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (IMEES), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is launching EPIC Deploy – Enabling Pledge Implementation for Cooling under the UNEP Cool Coalition. EPIC Deploy aims to accelerate sustainable cooling for both climate adaptation and mitigation, helping countries translate Global Cooling Pledge commitments into practice by identifying and implementing scalable, sustainable cooling technologies that generate evidence, transform markets, and inform policy through measurable results. The initiative brings together innovation and practical impact, with strong potential to advance sustainable and efficient cooling solutions globally.

The cooling market in developing economies is expected to grow from around USD 300 billion today to at least USD 600 billion per year by 2050, with the fastest expansion in Africa, where it could grow sixfold to USD 105 billion by 2050. EPIC Deploy leverages this rapidly expanding market to identify, test, and scale technologies that generate evidence and business models capable of unlocking investment and transforming markets at scale. The methodology combines techno-economic market assessments with open calls for proposals to identify transformative technologies and partners for each country. Selected pilots are then deployed and monitored to generate evidence that informs national and sub-national policies, strengthens enabling environments, and catalyzes market transformation and investment. 

This session will present the EPIC workplan and explore how industry leadership and innovation can help meet country needs through transformative technologies with high potential for market transformation and real-world impact.

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Objectives

• Present the EPIC Deploy Workplan and Vision outlining its goals, phases, and deliverables to support Global Cooling Pledge implementation.

• Highlight specific sustainable cooling needs shared by countries and showcase scalable innovative technologies from industry partners 

• Bring together governments, industry, and technical partners to identify collaboration opportunities and align on next steps for EPIC Deploy. 

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Outcomes

• Shared understanding of EPIC Deploy objectives, workplan and delivery approach. 

• Alignment between country needs and industry-led transformative cooling solutions, setting the stage for potential pilot projects under EPIC Deploy

• Commitment from key partners to advance collaboration and define next steps for joint implementation under EPIC Deploy.

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Agenda

Opening Remarks
H.E. Alessandro Guerri, Director General, Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security

Welcome Remarks
H.E. Adalberto Mahluf, Ministry of Environment, Brazil, and the Co-Chair of the Global Cooling Pledge

EPIC Deploy Overview and Workplan
Dr Mario Motta,  Rector’s Delegate on Energy Transition, Full Professor,  Politecnico di Milano

High-Level Dialogue on  Partnering for Pledge Implementation: Cooling Solutions for Country Action
Moderator: Hongpeng Lei, Chief of Mitigation Branch, Climate Division, UNEP

• Mr Nafaa Baccari, Director General, National Agency for Energy Management (ANME), Tunisia
• Simret Terefe, Lead, environment and climate change policy, strategy and planning division, Ethiopia
• Mr Hubert Zan, Lead Negotiator, Energy Commission, Ghana.
• Mrs Uboho Epko, Principal Scientific Officer, National Council on Climate Change, Nigeria
• Mr Katsuyuki Sawai, Senior Executive Officer, Daikin Industries on cooling innovation for health and buildings

Closing Remarks
Hongpeng Lei, Chief of Mitigation Branch, Climate Division, UNEP

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Resources

• Slide deck
• Photo gallery
• Recording

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