Zero-carbon Cooling in a Warming World

Expanding access while reducing carbon emissions

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Cooling solutions have become a global necessity. On this matter, Ita Kettleborough makes us understand how collaboration and partnerships are vital to meet the rising cooling demand. As per the author, ensuring access to cooling and managing the resulting energy demand will be the two major challenges in the coming decades, but solutions exist and risks can be managed. A single solution will not work for the diversity of local conditions, building types, and people's needs so there is a lot to learn by sharing the diverse suite of existing solutions from across the world and encouraging adoption of solutions at the local level.

This past decade was the hottest in recorded history. As the world warms due to climate change, cooling indoor spaces becomes a greater necessity and challenge. Today, almost 4 billion people—half of the global population—live in hot climates, and the majority of the other half of the population experiences high temperatures at some point during the year. Yet, in 2022, only 37% of the global population had access to cooling technologies. Over the next 25 years, 700 million more people will live in hot climates due to climate change, and the challenges for those already in hot climates will intensify.

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity has severe health consequences, causing, on average, half a million deaths per year. SEforALL estimates that 1.2 billion people are at high health risk from heat without adequate access to cooling. Increasing global access to cooling technologies is critical. We need to broaden access to a comprehensive range of cooling solutions to effectively manage heat impacts, for example, increasing shade, constructing well-ventilated buildings, and installing efficient air conditioning (AC) and fans.