A “COOLING pledge” to be unveiled at next month’s COP28 climate summit would commit countries to slash cooling-related emissions 68% by 2050, a draft text seen by AFP today showed.

But it remained unclear which countries would sign up, and whether heavyweights such as China and India, where demand for air-conditioning is growing fast, would participate.

Cooling methods currently account for over 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the United Nations said.

They contribute to emissions because of the electricity needed to power equipment such as air-conditioners and fans, and because air-conditioning and refrigeration generally rely on hydrofluorocarbons.

These are short-lived but powerful pollutants that can have exponentially greater global warming effects than carbon dioxide.

The UN said there were already an estimated 3.6 billion cooling appliances being used globally, but that figure was expected to soar, with global energy demand for cooling tripling by 2050.

“Without policy intervention, direct and indirect emissions from air conditioning and refrigeration are projected to rise 90% above 2017 levels by the year 2050,” a UN report warned in 2020.

The Global Cooling Pledge commits signatories to work on “reducing cooling-related emissions across all sectors by at least 68% globally relative to 2022 levels by 2050”.

It acknowledges the rising numbers of heat-related deaths globally, and that nearly three billion people have inefficient cooling options.

But it suggested access to cooling could be expanded while reducing the sector’s emissions via tools, including more efficient air-conditioners, buildings that use passive cooling, and a reduction in the most potent hydrofluorocarbons.

“Coordinated international action on sustainable cooling” could save the emission of 78 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – a measure of greenhouse gas emissions – by 2050, the pledge said.

Global negotiators meet in Dubai from November 30 for crunch climate talks set to focus on the future of fossil fuels, a call for ramping up renewable energy use and wrangling financing for adaptation and transition in the developing world.

COP host the United Arab Emirates is expected to announce a string of initiatives such as the cooling pledge on the sidelines of the main negotiations. – AFP, October 27, 2023.