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Developed to address the rising demand for sustainable cooling in Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta, this Action Plan offers an evidence-based roadmap to reduce urban heat, enhance thermal comfort, and improve energy efficiency in Can Tho City. It combines microclimate analysis, building simulations, and policy mapping to deliver targeted recommendations for city planners and decision-makers. While tailored to the local context, the Plan presents a scalable framework that can inform urban cooling strategies in other rapidly growing tropical cities around the world.

As India and many other countries face intensifying extreme heat, the need for robust, city-level Heat Action Plans (HAPs) has become urgent. In February 2025, the UNEP Cool Coalition partnered with India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to co-host an international workshop focused on advancing HAPs as tools for both emergency response and long-term heat resilience.

Bringing together over 15 Cool Coalition partners and global experts, the workshop showcased best practices such as passive cooling, Urban Heat Island mapping, and the Chief Heat Officer model. Key outcomes included strengthening coordination across governance levels, scaling innovative cooling for vulnerable populations, and integrating sustainable cooling into urban redesign.

Beating the Heat: A Sustainable Cooling Handbook for Cities was launched on November 3rd 2021 at COP26 by the Cool Coalition, UNEP, RMI, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), Mission Innovation and Clean Cooling Collaborative.

The new guide offers planners an encyclopaedia of proven options to help cool cities. The guide’s 80 supporting case studies and examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategies outlined and can help cities find an approach best suited to their unique contexts.

The Compendium for Passive Cooling Strategies in Cambodia serves as a practical guide for integrating passive cooling strategies into Cambodia’s building sector. Tailored for architects, engineers, building owners, and professionals in construction and maintenance, it highlights three key types of strategies: site-oriented, design-oriented, and material/technology-oriented measures. Each section offers clear technical insights, practical application steps, and helpful tools to assist in selecting the most effective passive cooling options for projects. Beyond the core strategies, the compendium also includes a material directory and international case studies, providing additional support for the successful adoption of these solutions.

The Compendium was developed and published by the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia. This work was made possible through the technical and financial support of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Cool Coalition, and the ClimateWorks Foundation, whose contributions were crucial to its development.

This report quantifies sustainable cooling investment needs and financing gaps, highlighting many opportunities for private investors in a market that could grow to more than half a trillion dollars per year by 2050. Accelerating the adoption of passive cooling, energy efficiency and refrigerant phase down, would reduce electricity consumption, spending on equipment, and future power sector investments by more than $8 trillion in developing countries over the next 25 years.

The report lays out barriers to scaling up private finance, showcases financing solutions and innovations and provides recommendations to deliver on the Global Cooling Pledge. These include improving market data and evidence, promoting the business case for investable projects, prioritizing financing for passive cooling, expanding financial instruments for technological innovation, improving policy and regulatory frameworks and enforcement capacities, and increasing the use of concessional finance to support sustainable cooling solutions for those most in need.

This second Global Cooling Pledge Progress Report provides a comprehensive overview of how countries are translating commitments into action across policy, planning, and implementation. It highlights progress in advancing access to sustainable cooling, improving energy efficiency, and accelerating the uptake of climate-friendly technologies, while also identifying key gaps in finance, data, and delivery. Drawing on country submissions and sectoral insights, the report reflects growing momentum and stronger alignment between national strategies and on-the-ground implementation. It also outlines priority areas for coordinated support, positioning the Global Cooling Pledge as a central platform to drive systemic, equitable, and scalable cooling solutions.

The second edition of UNEP’s Global Cooling Watch Report takes a deep dive into one of the decade’s most urgent challenges: surging heat, soaring cooling demand, and stark inequalities in access.  Building on the 2023 edition’s analysis of global sustainable cooling trends, the report provides the scientific foundation for the Global Cooling Pledge and charts pathways toward near-zero emissions from cooling.

The Guidelines for Passive Cooling Strategies in Cambodia provide a practical, climate-responsive resource to support the design and delivery of buildings that reduce reliance on mechanical cooling while ensuring thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort. Tailored to Cambodia’s hot-humid context, the publication offers clear guidance on the selection, application, and integration of passive cooling strategies at site, building, and component levels. Drawing on technical analysis, building typologies, and real-world demonstration projects, the Guidelines bridge theory and practice and support architects, engineers, policymakers, and other stakeholders in embedding passive cooling into building design, regulations, and implementation, contributing to lower energy demand, reduced emissions, and improved urban resilience.