Global Cooling Watch 2025
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Cooling is a lifeline in a warming world—protecting health, food, and productivity—but it also creates a major climate challenge. The Global Cooling Watch 2025 highlights how rising temperatures and urbanisation are driving a surge in global cooling demand, which, if unmanaged, could triple energy use and double emissions by 2050. This year’s report focuses on extreme heat and access to cooling, with Jakub Vrba, Florencia Azar Sales and Leo Blyth of Energy Saving Trust, co-Secretariat of Efficiency for Access, serving as lead topical authors on access to cooling and off-grid solutions.
Right now, over 1 billion people lack access to adequate cooling, putting them at high risk due to lack of access to adequate cooling. The dual challenge of rising demand and unequal access while cutting emissions makes cooling both an essential adaptation strategy and a key part of climate mitigation.
The good news is that practical, holistic solutions already exist. Scaling passive design, efficient technologies, and low-GWP refrigerants could cut cooling emissions by up to 97%, saving trillions in avoided energy and infrastructure costs.
What’s inside the report:
- The Sustainable Cooling Hierarchy, a four-step approach to minimise energy use and emissions from cooling systems.
- The Tiered Access Framework, which defines progressive levels of access to sustainable cooling—from no access to best-in-class hybrid solutions.
The first edition of the report served as flagship evidence for countries to commit to the Global Cooling Pledge in 2023. This year, the report presents an updated global policy landscape, showing growing momentum but calling for increased collective ambition to address extreme heat and access to cooling:
- 134 countries now include cooling in national climate strategies.
- 29 countries have set cooling-related emissions targets.
- 72 countries have signed the Global Cooling Pledge, committing to a 68% reduction in cooling emissions by 2050.