New NCAP Methodology Charts Course for Sustainable Cooling Across MENA

The first panel focused on the MENA methodology itself and the early country experience of putting it into practice. Speaking from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dr Mozah Mohamed Alnuaimi, Director of Productivity and Demand Management at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, described how NCAPs enable integrated governance in a country where cooling sits at the intersection of energy planning, building regulation and urban development. The UAE's approach involves close coordination across municipalities, utilities and standards authorities to align building efficiency codes, demand-side management and renewable energy deployment. "NCAPs help shift cooling policy from a narrow efficiency discussion toward strategic infrastructure and climate planning," she noted, "ensuring that growing cooling demand is managed in a coordinated way."

Morocco's experience offered a window into what NCAP development looks like in practice and at pace. Dr Mouna Benmbarek, Head of the Gas Emissions Service at the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, described a process that has involved a steering committee of twelve ministries, direct engagement with the private sector, and sectoral data collection spanning fisheries, agriculture, health, industry and transport. The NCAP's modelling uses the LEAP platform and covers 2014–2050 to align with the country's National Low-Carbon Strategy. "Morocco's NCAP consolidates an operational and coherent vision of the transition to sustainable cooling," Benmbarek said, built on four pillars: energy sobriety, energy efficiency, decarbonisation and equity. Early outputs already point to binding minimum energy performance standards, accelerated low-GWP refrigerant transition, and integration of thermal comfort into building codes.

The architecture of the MENA methodology itself was presented by Dr Mostafa Hasaneen, Senior Sustainable Energy Expert at RCREEE. Structured in three stages —contextual assessment and planning, cooling demand assessment, and synthesis— it covers the full cold-chain spectrum rather than limiting analysis to one or two sectors. Hasaneen highlighted the establishment of a Regional Technical Advisory Group comprising twelve MENA countries and confirmed that Djibouti will be the second country to apply the methodology, with a kick-off expected within a month. "If we ensure coherence between fostering diverse cooling alternatives, reducing dependency on energy-intensive applications and supporting climate mitigation, we have a complete national cooling action plan that accommodates both energy security and decarbonisation," he said.

The second panel shifted from planning to delivery, the question every country asks once an NCAP exists on paper. Dubai's district cooling sector provided a concrete case study. Samer Khoudeir, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), described how deliberate government policy created the conditions for what is now the world's largest district cooling provider Dubai's Demand Side Management Strategy targets 40% district cooling penetration by 2030, with efficient cooling designated as one of its twelve pillars. "In our region, air conditioning is a daily necessity and district cooling can save 50% of power consumption compared to traditional systems, with equipment lifecycles of 30 to 50 years versus 12 to 15 for conventional units," explained Khoudeir.

Jalel Chabchoub, Chief Investment Officer at the African Development Bank (AfDB), outlined how the Bank is integrating cooling into its development finance portfolio through three workstreams: a USD 1 million technical assistance grant, channelled through the Climate Investment Funds, for a sustainable district heating and cooling system at the Bab Saadoun medical complex in Tunis; support for Tunisia's own NCAP development; and a near-complete programme in Egypt targeting market transformation for efficient refrigerators and air conditioners. Chabchoub argued all three reflect “a deliberate approach, addressing cooling through infrastructure, policy and appliances simultaneously.”

Closing the panel, Rosa Garcia, Energy Efficiency and Cooling Specialist at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) cited the organisation’s annual analysis covering 77 countries, which identifies over one billion people at high risk from lack of cooling access and another 2.8 billion on the verge of purchasing the cheapest available, often inefficient, cooling solution. "If we focus only on mitigation, we risk missing the fact that people are already suffering from heat and the lack of access to cooling," Garcia said. Equitable access, she stressed, does not mean an air conditioner in every home, but ensuring people can access the cooling services they need in ways that are sustainable, affordable and context-appropriate.