Cooling and Extreme Heat - Key Messages

This document highlights the increasing global demand for cooling services caused by climate change, urbanisation and socio-economic growth, and notes that 1.2 billion people especially women still lack access to cooling. The document addresses the projected tripling of cooling equipment capacity by 2050 and warns that without accelerated improvements in energy efficiency, electricity consumption and emissions from cooling could more than double and account for more than 10 per cent of projected global emissions. In response to the rapid increase in the scale, intensity, frequency and impact of extreme heat, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently called for an urgent and concerted effort to strengthen international cooperation to combat extreme heat and urged investment in the triple strategy of passive cooling, improved energy efficiency and phasing out climate-warming gases in line with the Global Cooling Pledge at COP 28. The document outlines this triple strategy and emphasises the potential to reduce emissions from cooling by over 60 percent by 2050 and achieve significant economic savings.