COP29 Buildings and Cooling Pavilion

Implementing the Global Cooling Pledge: Enhancing Sustainability and Heat Resilience

Event description

2023 saw the warmest year on record with many countries experiencing extreme temperatures. Extreme heat amplifies inequality, inflames food insecurity, and pushes people further into poverty. As said by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his Urgent Call to Action on Extreme Heat, we must respond by investing “in the triple strategy of passive cooling (nature, urban design, reflective surfaces and smart buildings), energy efficiency and a phasedown of climate-warming gases used in cooling equipment could reduce the projected 2050 emissions by over 60 per cent – around 3.8 billion tons of CO2 e and save billions from extreme heat through universal access to cooling”.

The untapped urgency and opportunity of cooling led the COP28 President to launch the Global Cooling Pledge together with over 70 countries and 60 non-state actors.  The Pledge marks the world’s first collective effort to reduce cooling related emissions across all sectors by at least 68% globally by 2050, consistent with limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C and in line with reaching global net-zero emissions targets, while significantly increasing access to sustainable cooling by 2030 for the most vulnerable populations. Delivering on the Global Cooling Pledge could cut emissions by around 78 billion tons by 2050 while protecting billions of people from the impacts of extreme heat.

In consultation with Pledge signatory countries, the UNEP-led Cool Coalition Steering Committee, the Cool Coalition membership, and strategic partners such as the Ozone Secretariat, the MLF, and the CCAC, an Pledge implementation strategy was developed.

In this event, national governments and leading subnational governments will review their progress on implementation of the Global Cooling Pledge. In line with the implementation strategy, they will discuss how they are using data to drive evidence-based policymaking on sustainable cooling, with support of the UNEP-led Cool Coalition Cooling Refrigeration Emissions and Energy Data (CREED) working group.