CHILLING PROSPECTS: TRACKING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL 2021

The report identifies that 1.12 billion people across 76 countries are at high risk due to a lack of access to cooling, with the COVID-19 pandemic increasing this number by approximately 50 million in 2021. It highlights critical gaps in rural and urban poor populations, particularly in Africa and Asia, and examines the urgent need for sustainable cold chains for vaccine distribution. The document also promotes National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs) and showcases passive and solar-powered cooling solutions in countries like Colombia, Rwanda, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

• In 2021, approximately 1.12 billion people across 76 countries are at high risk due to a lack of access to cooling. This includes 1.09 billion people among the rural and urban poor across 54 high-impact countries, representing an increase of approximately 50 million people compared to 2020.
• The rural poor population at high risk increased by 31 million, rising from 324 million in 2020 to 355 million in 2021. India, Nigeria, and Bangladesh are the three countries with the highest number of rural poor at risk.
• The urban poor population at high risk grew by 19 million, increasing from 714 million to 732 million people. India and China account for approximately 36 percent of this growth.
• The lower-middle income population, those living on less than USD 10.01 per day outside of poverty, increased by approximately 164 million people between 2020 and 2021, reaching 2.34 billion. This group is at risk of purchasing inefficient cooling devices that increase GHG emissions.
• The COVID-19 pandemic created significant barriers to vaccine distribution due to cold chain requirements. An estimated 2.7 billion people lack dependable access to vaccines because of insufficient supply chains and logistics capabilities related to cold chains.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, healthcare electricity access is a critical bottleneck; a 2013 WHO-led review of 11 countries estimated that one in four health facilities had no electricity access at all.
• Sub-national analysis reveals that countries not classified as 'high-impact' can still have high-risk regions. For example, in Mexico, the states of Guerrero and Veracruz were identified as high-impact regions despite the country's overall status.
• National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs) are being adopted to coordinate sustainable cooling. As of the report, over 20 countries are developing NCAPs, and they have been published by Cuba, China, India, Panama, Rwanda, and Trinidad and Tobago.
• Passive cooling solutions have demonstrated significant temperature reductions. In Bangladesh, cool roofs reduced surface temperatures by 12.3°C and indoor air temperatures by 7.72°C during peak heat.
• In Medellín, Colombia, the Green Corridors project reduced average air temperatures in specific locations from 31.6°C to 27.1°C and average surface temperatures from 40.5°C to 30.2°C between 2016 and 2019.

APA

Uwamaliya, A., Jose, A., Wadhwa, A., Hartley, B., Dean, B., di Schio, C. R., Mehic, S., Stojanov, A., Ben-Zwi, E., Blanc, I., Nasser, J., Otarra, M., & Kennedy, S. (2021). CHILLING PROSPECTS: TRACKING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL 2021. Sustainable Energy for All. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-05/Chilling-Prospects-21-SEforALL.pdf

Chicago

Uwamaliya, Alice, Alvin Jose, Anant Wadhwa, Ben Hartley, Brian Dean, Clotilde Rossi di Schio, Sejla Mehic, et al. CHILLING PROSPECTS: TRACKING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL 2021. Sustainable Energy for All, 2021. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-05/Chilling-Prospects-21-SEforALL.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{uwamaliya2021chilling, author = {Uwamaliya, Alice and Jose, Alvin and Wadhwa, Anant and Hartley, Ben and Dean, Brian and di Schio, Clotilde Rossi and Mehic, Sejla and Stojanov, Andrea and Ben-Zwi, Eyal and Blanc, Isabelle and Nasser, Jenny and Otarra, Meriam and Kennedy, Sherry}, title = {{CHILLING PROSPECTS: TRACKING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL 2021}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2021-05/Chilling-Prospects-21-SEforALL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }