New report urges global action on cooling infrastructure

The Hot Reality: Living in a +50°C World is published by the Centre for Sustainable Cooling and the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) in Kigali. The report describes the dangers humanity faces as global temperatures look set to race beyond the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target, as well as the enormous benefits that would accrue from developing sustainable cooling infrastructure.

“The provision of cooling is not an optional extra or a lifestyle luxury,” said co-author Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy at Birmingham University and Heriot-Watt University, and co-director of the Centre for Sustainable Cooling.

“It is a critical service for a well-functioning, well-adapted, resilient, and healthy society, and economy, enabling access to the basic essentials of life, such as food and health, and providing safe environments to live, work, learn and play. However, despite cooling being vital to every nation’s productivity, prosperity, and economic well-being, it is typically absent from lists of important national infrastructure.”