COVID-19 response: building back better with efficient and climate-friendly cooling

Laboratory workers examining covid-19 blood sample from fridge

Ongoing

started:

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and disrupted millions more. Despite challenges presented by this pandemic, the world cannot allow it to compromise efforts to tackle the linked and ongoing challenges of climate change, poor air quality, unsustainable development and biodiversity loss. The global response to the pandemic has highlighted the importance of access to cooling and refrigeration as an essential service for people’s wellbeing during lockdowns and vaccine distribution. Cooling is therefore a critical intervention area, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, that can deliver short-term emergency needs, support long-term economic recovery, support sustainable development, and increase resilience to future shocks.

As governments marshal massive economic stimulus efforts to mitigate the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 we must use this unique opportunity to accelerate progress for efficient, climate-friendly cooling for a more resilient and prosperous world. The Efficient Cooling Initiative is helping countries Build Back Better with efficient and climate-friendly cooling.

Objectives

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Efficient Cooling Initiative seeks to support implementation of good practice policies and financial mechanisms to support efficient climate-friendly cooling through COVID-19 stimulus.

What we're doing

Over the course of 2021, the Efficient Cooling Initiative will organize a series virtual technical workshops and high-level roundtable events focused on how COVID-19 economic stimulus packages can mainstream efficient, climate-friendly cooling solutions in recovery investment plans.

Efficient Cooling Initiative partners have joined with the Cool Coalition to develop a case study report on cooling and green recovery in COVID-19 recovery packages. The brief builds on the work developed by the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program and Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) by collecting case studies and examples from CCAC and Cool Coalition partners on how to best catalyze efficient cooling in COVID-19 recovery packages. The briefing will be published in late 2020.