UNEP's Action Plan for Cooling Sector

• 09 Dec 2023

For Prelims: United Nations Environment Programme, Conference of Parties(COP28), Global Cooling Pledge, Kigali Amendment, India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)

For Mains: Importance Reducing Emissions from the Cooling Sector, Green Cooling Strategies for Sustainable Development, Government Policies & Interventions

Source: DTE

Why in News?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has proposed an action plan aimed at significantly reducing emissions from the global cooling sector in its recent report titled “Keeping it Chill: How to meet cooling demands while cutting emissions.”

• This initiative carries the potential to make a substantial impact on the predicted 2050 greenhouse gas emissions, reducing them by 60%.
• The report is released in support of the Global Cooling Pledge, a joint initiative between the United Arab Emirates as host of the Conference of Parties(COP28) and the Cool Coalition.

Note

• The Cool Coalition is a global network of partners working to provide efficient, climate-friendly cooling for all.
• The UNEP launched the Cool Coalition at the First Global Conference on Synergies between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.
  • India is a member of the Cool Coalition.

What is UNEP's Proposed Action Plan for Sustainable Cooling?

• Nature-Based Solutions:
  • Recommendations include passive cooling measures like shading, ventilation, insulation, green roofs, and reflective surfaces, and reintroducing nature to urban areas.
  • Passive cooling can reduce the need for mechanical cooling and save energy and emissions.
• Efficiency Standards:
  • Emphasizes the importance of higher energy efficiency technologies and practices for cooling equipment, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and fans.
    • Higher-energy efficiency cooling can reduce the energy consumption and emissions of cooling devices and lower the costs for users and utilities.
• Phasedown of Refrigerants:
  • This refers to the use of alternative substances to cool devices, such as hydrocarbons, ammonia, or carbon dioxide, instead of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are potent greenhouse gases.
    • HFCs are a group of synthetic gases primarily used for cooling and refrigeration. HFCs, classified as "super-pollutants," possess potent greenhouse gas properties, capable of trapping heat hundreds to thousands of times more than carbon dioxide.
    • Despite their significant impact, they are short-lived climate pollutants, with an average atmospheric lifespan of 15 years.
  • Low-global warming potential refrigerants can reduce the direct emissions of cooling devices and contribute to the phase-down of HFCs under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
  • Urges a faster phasedown of climate-warming refrigerants and air conditioning.

Why Address the Cooling Sector?

• The cooling sector plays a crucial role in combating rising temperatures, ensuring food safety, industrial cooling processes, and driving productive economies.
• However, without intervention, the growing demand for cooling equipment could lead to a substantial increase in electricity consumption and emissions.
  • The cooling sector accounts for a substantial 20% of global electricity consumption.
• If current policies continue, the installed capacity of cooling equipment globally will triple, resulting in a more than doubling of electricity consumption by 2050.
  • This could lead to emissions between 4.4 billion and 6.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2050, accounting for over 10% of global projected emissions that year.

What are the Benefits of Sustainable Cooling?

• Passive cooling techniques and efficient cooling equipment can save consumers USD 17 trillion between 2022 and 2050.
  • It is projected to reduce peak power requirements by 1.5-2 terawatts (TW), avoiding substantial power generation investments.
• Increasing the adoption of low-global warming potential technologies in new equipment and effectively managing refrigerant life cycles can reduce HFC emissions by 50% in 2050.
  • Decarbonizing the power grid can further reduce sectoral emissions by 96%.

What are the Initiatives Related to Sustainable Cooling?

• Global:
  • National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs):
    • Presently, more than 40 countries, including India, have developed NCAPs, and 25 others are at various stages of preparing theirs as well.
    • Though India and China have included implementation mechanisms in their NCAPs, the rollout has been slow.
  • Global Cooling Pledge:
    • At the bthe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the host country United Arab Emirates and the Cool Coalition launched the Global Cooling Pledge.
      • Over 60 countries signed up to the Pledge with commitments to reduce the climate impact of the cooling sector.
  • Kigali Amendment Acceleration:
    • The Kigali Amendment is an international agreement to reduce the production and consumption of HFCs.
    • The amendment is part of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
    • The Kigali Amendment aims to reduce HFC production and consumption by 80–85% by 2047.
    • This is expected to prevent the emissions of up to 105 billion tonnes of CO2 of greenhouse gases, avoiding up to 0.5 degree Celsius of global temperature rise by 2100.
• India:
  • India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP).
  • Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Star Rating Programme.