COP28 pledge to curb cooling emissions backed by 63 countries, including US

The United States, Canada and Kenya were among 63 countries to join a pledge to deeply cut cooling-related emissions at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.

The Global cooling pledge marks the world's first collective focus on climate-warming emissions from cooling, which includes refrigeration for food and medicine and air conditioning.

It commits countries to reduce by 2050 their cooling-related emissions by at least 68 percent compared to 2022 levels, along with a suite of other targets including establishing minimum energy performance standards by 2030.

"We want to lay out a pathway to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors but increase access to sustainable cooling," US climate envoy John Kerry told COP28.

Some 1.2B people who need cooling still lack access. Installed capacity is set to triple by mid-century, driven by climbing temperatures, growing populations and rising incomes.

"Imagine a slum community, an informal settlement, the housing made of corrugated iron, and on the side an air conditioner," Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Sierra Leone told a COP28 news conference.

India reluctant

India, which is likely to see the greatest growth in demand for cooling in the coming decades, still had not joined the pledge as of Tuesday morning.

Indian government officials earlier told Reuters they were not willing to undertake targets above those committed to in 1992 under the multilateral Montreal Protocol to regulate production and consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals and hydrofluorocarbons used in cooling.

"The countries who are signing up they are now really taking action and working with industry in order to deploy sustainable solutions," said Danfoss' Fischer.

At least 118 countries are also supporting another COP28 pledge to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency rates by 2030.

Progress on meeting the aims of the cooling pledge will be tracked on an annual basis until 2030, with check-ins at the yearly UN climate summits.