CHILLING PROSPECTS: PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL

The report identifies a significant global cooling access gap affecting approximately 3.4 billion people, categorized into the rural poor, slum dwellers, carbon captives, and middle-income groups. It highlights the critical role of cooling in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly regarding heat-related mortality, vaccine preservation, and agricultural food loss. The document emphasizes the intersection of the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, warning that unmanaged demand for inefficient air conditioning could lead to a massive increase in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It proposes a holistic 'thinking thermally' approach, combining passive cooling, district cooling, and efficient technology with innovative financing models like PAYGO to provide sustainable cooling for all.

• Approximately 1.1 billion people face immediate cooling access risks, comprising 470 million rural poor lacking electricity and cold chains, and 630 million slum dwellers in hot urban areas with poor or intermittent electricity.
• A group of 2.3 billion 'carbon captives'—the lower-middle class in developing countries—are at risk of purchasing inefficient cooling appliances, which could cause global cooling energy demand to rise more than 33-fold by 2100 if not managed.
• Lack of cooling has severe health and economic impacts: heat waves kill an estimated 12,000 people annually, and by 2050, deaths could reach 255,000 per year without adaptation. Economically, work-hour losses by 2050 could reach 12% of annual GDP in parts of South Asia and West Africa.
• Inefficient cold chains contribute to massive food loss; one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted annually, with two-thirds of this wastage occurring in Africa and Asia.
• The report identifies nine priority countries facing the highest cooling-related risks: India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique, China, Brazil, Pakistan, and Indonesia. India is the only country appearing in all three high-risk categories (rural poor, slum dwellers, and carbon captives).
• The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol provides a critical opportunity to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—potent greenhouse gases—by more than 80% over 30 years, which can be leveraged to redesign cooling products for higher energy efficiency.
• Sustainable cooling requires a holistic 'thinking thermally' approach that prioritizes demand reduction through passive measures—such as 'cool roofs' which can reduce internal temperatures by 20%—before deploying technical solutions like district cooling.
• Financing remains a major barrier for the rural poor; however, Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) models for off-grid solar systems have successfully enabled low-income consumers to acquire fans and refrigerators.

APA

Miller, A., Becque, R., Hartley, B., Uwamaliya, A., & Fleming, P. (n.d.). CHILLING PROSPECTS: PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL. Sustainable Energy for All. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/SEforALL_CoolingForAll-Report.pdf

Chicago

Miller, Alan, Renilde Becque, Ben Hartley, Alice Uwamaliya, and Peyton Fleming. CHILLING PROSPECTS: PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL. Sustainable Energy for All, n.d. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/SEforALL_CoolingForAll-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Miller |first1=Alan |last2=Becque |first2=Renilde |last3=Hartley |first3=Ben |last4=Uwamaliya |first4=Alice |last5=Fleming |first5=Peyton |title=CHILLING PROSPECTS: PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL |publisher=Sustainable Energy for All |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/SEforALL_CoolingForAll-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{millerndchilling, author = {Miller, Alan and Becque, Renilde and Hartley, Ben and Uwamaliya, Alice and Fleming, Peyton}, title = {{CHILLING PROSPECTS: PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COOLING FOR ALL}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/SEforALL_CoolingForAll-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }