It is estimated that the cooling systems as the air conditioners and the refrigerators consume enormous amounts of energy and are responsible for more than 7% of global emissions of greenhouse gases. greenhouse gasesthat is why 60 countries have signed the "Commitment to refrigeration"through which they will seek to reduce the climate impact of this sector.

The goal is to provide universal access to life-saving refrigeration, but at the same time relieve pressure on energy grids and save billions of dollars by 2050.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), currently more than one billion people are at high risk of suffering from heat extreme due to lack of access to refrigeration services. The vast majority live in Africa y Asia.

He adds that nearly one-third of the world's population is exposed to heat waves more than 20 days a year, so the number of fatalities is cooling systems provide relief to people, as well as being essential to other critical areas and services, such as the global food security and the conservation of vaccines.

However, conventional cooling, such as air-conditioning, is an important driver of the climate change and if not properly managed, energy needs for space cooling will triple by 2050, along with the associated emissions.

"Today's cooling systems, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, consume enormous amounts of energy and often use refrigerants that warm the planet. If current growth trends continue, refrigeration equipment will account for 20 percent of total electricity consumption today, and is expected to more than double by 2050," states the UN.

The latest report of the UNEP shows that adopting measures to reduce the energy consumption of refrigeration equipment could lead to a reduction of at least 60 percent of projected sectoral emissions by 2050.

"The refrigeration sector must grow to protect everyone from rising temperatures, maintain food quality and safety, keep vaccines stable and economies productive, but this growth must not come at the cost of energy transition and more intense climate impacts," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP at COP28.

The report published with the support of the Global Cooling Pledge and the Cool Coalitionled by UNEP defines the following cooling strategies:

Passive cooling strategies

• Isolation
• Natural shade
• Ventilation
• Reflective surfaces
• Higher energy efficiency standards
• Phasing out climate-warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants.

It also makes the following recommendations in the report that could reduce projected emissions from business-as-usual cooling by about 3.8 billion tons of CO2 equivalent by 2050.

• Enable an additional 3.5 billion people to benefit from refrigerators, air conditioners or passive cooling by 2050.
• Reduce end-user electricity bills by $1 trillion by 2050 and by $17 trillion cumulatively between 2022 and 2050.
• Reduce peak power requirements by 1.5 to 2 terawatts (TW), almost double the EU's total generation capacity today.
• Avoid investments in energy generation in the order of 4 to 5 billion dollars.

Source: UN