Exclusive-Countries asked to slash cooling emissions by 68% by 2050

With climate warming leading to more air conditioning use worldwide, dozens of countries including China, India and the United States are being asked to commit to a global pledge that would require at least a 68% reduction in cooling-related emissions by 2050, sources told Reuters. 

The emissions from both the refrigerants and the energy used in cooling now account for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and are expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures continue to rise.

There will be about 3 billion more air conditioners installed around the world beyond the roughly 2 billion currently in place, said Noah Horowitz, program director of the Clean Cooling Collaborative nonprofit. “We cannot just have business as usual.” 

The COP28 Presidency held by the United Arab Emirates is leading the pledge alongside the U.N. Environment Programme’s (UNEP)Cool Coalition.

With the global temperature now 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer on average than during the preindustrial era, the world is seeing more intense heatwaves. At 1.5C of warming, hundreds of millions of people could face one week per year of deadly humid heat that would be unsurvivable without access to cooling. 

Achieving the pledge’s commitments will require major investment in the rollout of more sustainable cooling technology, aided by government incentives and bulk procurement, experts said.

It also would likely need electric grids to switch to renewables, as today’s use of AC and fans to keep cool accounts for nearly 20% of global electricity consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.