Country Brief: Sustainable Cooling for All in Kenya

Kenya faces significant cooling gaps, with millions of people in hot regions at risk due to poverty and lack of electricity. While the country has a high share of renewable energy, the growth of refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) threatens to increase emissions, necessitating a transition to sustainable cooling to align with Net Zero 2050 goals.

• In Kenya's hottest regions—the Rift Valley, Northeastern, Eastern, and Coast—approximately 9.6 million rural and urban poor are at high risk due to a lack of cooling access, as they live below the international poverty line of USD 2.15 per day in substandard housing without electricity. An additional 14.8 million lower-middle-income people are at medium risk due to limited financial resources and lack of electricity.
• Direct and indirect emissions from refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) in Kenya are projected to rise from approximately 4 Mt CO2eq in 2030 to 7.87 Mt CO2eq by 2050 under a 'business as usual' scenario, driven by energy use, appliance end-of-life, and refrigerant leakage.
• Kenya's temperatures could increase by up to 3.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century under a 'business as usual' climate scenario (RCP 8.5). Turkana County in the north of the Rift Valley Province is already significantly hotter than other areas, with monthly average highs near 40°C.
• Kenya aims for Net Zero by 2050 via its Energy Transition and Investment Plan 2023-2050 (ETIP), which involves phasing out unabated fossil fuels by 2040. Power generation is already over 90 percent renewable, primarily from geothermal (42 percent) and hydro (39 percent) as of 2020.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2024). Country Brief: Sustainable Cooling for All in Kenya. https://www.seforall.org/publications/country-brief-sustainable-cooling-for-all-in-kenya

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Country Brief: Sustainable Cooling for All in Kenya. 2024. https://www.seforall.org/publications/country-brief-sustainable-cooling-for-all-in-kenya.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Country Brief: Sustainable Cooling for All in Kenya |date=7 November 2024 |url=https://www.seforall.org/publications/country-brief-sustainable-cooling-for-all-in-kenya |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2024country, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Country Brief: Sustainable Cooling for All in Kenya}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.seforall.org/publications/country-brief-sustainable-cooling-for-all-in-kenya}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }