ACCELERATING THE TRANSITION TO EFFICIENT COOLING

The impact of climate change is manifesting itself in increasingly erratic weather patterns. Increasing focus has been placed on cooling and promoting sustainable cooling at affordable cost. There is a growing recognition that access to sustainable cooling is a necessity in a warming world. The growing demand for cooling will increase global warming. In this article, Manjeet Singh and Vasudevan Rangarajan examine how a transition to climate-friendly and energy-efficient cooling would avoid emissions and allow an increase in cooling access that would contribute substantially to the Sustainable Development Goals.

- Manjeet Singh and Vasudevan Rangarajan

The impact of climate change is manifesting itself in increasingly erratic weather patterns, and even these are increasing in frequency and severity. Heatwaves in the summer months across the hemispheres are becoming more the norm than the exception. The 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that around 2.3 billion people could be both exposed and vulnerable to heatwave events due to 1.5°C of global warming. Human hardship, the report also pointed out, would be compounded by the impact on food production, with food loss and waste likely to contribute around 10 per cent of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ensuring food security, particularly fruits, vegetables, and other fresh produce, is likely to become more challenging due to the impact of climate change.

Unsurprisingly then, in 2018 and 2019, the issue of cooling and promoting sustainable cooling at affordable cost emerged as a focus of governments, health care companies, food manufacturers, real estate firms, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment manufacturers, refrigerant producers, and financial institutions. Rather than viewing access to cooling as a luxury, there is a growing recognition that, in a warming world, access to sustainable cooling is a necessity.

Global Warming is Creating Increased Demand for Cooling