Our rapidly warming planet, driven by climate change, population growth, and urbanization, is creating an unprecedented surge in cooling demand. Today, over one billion people lack reliable cooling for health, productivity, and food security. In 2024, there are an estimated 3.34 billion cooling appliances in use—1.29 billion of them room air conditioners—and this figure could triple by 2050. Conventional, energy-intensive cooling systems exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, fueling a vicious cycle: higher temperatures drive greater cooling needs, which in turn generate more emissions and further intensify warming, especially for vulnerable populations without access to mechanical cooling.
Breaking this cycle requires an integrated approach that combines passive‐cooling strategies, enhanced efficiency, and low-global-warming-potential refrigerants. Under the COP28 UAE Presidency, the Global Cooling Pledge was launched in December 2023 with support from over 60 countries and 80 non-state actors. Its three targets are to cut cooling-related emissions by 68 percent (relative to 2022) by 2050, dramatically expand equitable access to sustainable cooling by 2030, and boost the global average efficiency of new air conditioners by 50 percent through heightened ambition and international cooperation.
A core commitment of the Pledge is the development of National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs). NCAPs align public and private sectors, integrate policies—such as energy efficiency, and refrigerant management—and deliver socio-economic benefits while fulfilling Paris Agreement, Kigali amendment and Sustainable Development Goals. By providing structured frameworks with clear targets, NCAPs empower governments to coordinate cross-sectoral efforts toward low-emission, energy-efficient cooling solutions.
Harmonizing NCAPs across regions and standardizing regulatory frameworks reduces trade barriers, catalyzes larger integrated markets, and drives economies of scale. This fosters regional innovation, accelerates technology diffusion, and ensures transparent tracking of collective progress.
This side event aims to galvanize Montreal Protocol parties to endorse and implement NCAPs. It will present UNEP efforts to regional contextualization of NCAP Methodology, and further showcase its application in the MENA region, and highlight best practices to promote peer learning and collaborative action toward a sustainable cooling transition.
