Localization is critical to reaching sustainable energy for all
Sustainable cooling: an essential part of a just and equitable energy transition
By Alan Miller, Senior Advisor to the Cooling for All SecretariatBen Hartley, Programme Manager, Cooling for All
30%
of the global population is exposed to life-threatening heat for at least 20 days a year
50%
of humanity may be exposed to life-threatening conditions arising from extreme heat and humidity by 2100
As several SEforALL reports have explained, cooling is essential for multiple SDGs: to protect against the risks of extreme heat, provide the cold chains needed for vaccines, to reduce food waste and improve food security, as a pathway for increasing the incomes of rural farmers, and to limit extreme heat in urban developments.
While some cooling needs can be met with nature-based or passive cooling solutions – such as planting trees or using heat reflective paint on buildings – for many, equitable access to sustainable cooling hinges on access to electricity to power cooling devices (active cooling). At the same time, continued reliance on inefficient devices could have drastic consequences for energy demand, energy access, and emissions.
Less than 10 percent of the almost 3 billion people living in the hottest parts of the world possess air conditioners. [3] The combination of rising temperatures and incomes means this figure is growing rapidly; by 2050 it has been projected around 2/3 of the world’s households could have an air conditioner – more than a billion new units.
Without subsidies or strict performance standards, low-income consumers will buy the lowest cost and typically least energy-efficient equipment, some still using potent greenhouse gases as refrigerants, locking in their use for a decade or more. The resultant growth in demand for power has been described as a "veritable carbon time bomb." [4] The need is increasing and increasingly urgent for environmentally sustainable, efficient, and affordable cooling solutions, sufficient to meet local needs, supported by technologies, policies, financing and services.
Much of the focus on extreme heat risks has to date focused on urban areas, where temperature extremes are exacerbated by "heat islands", the lack of vegetation, and the vulnerability of poor slum dwellers. SEforALL and the World Bank are working together to show that the risks in rural areas could be equally or more significant as the populations are typically poorer and more dependent on small farms highly vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
Rural populations are also more likely to lack access to a reliable, affordable source of electricity to power active cooling, and the absence of cooling also limits access to vaccines and good healthcare services. Declining opportunities in rural areas are also likely to accelerate migration to cities expanding urban slums and social problems.
The challenge is to identify strategies that simultaneously address the need for cooling and provide access to modern energy while also responding to climate change – all elements of a just, equitable energy transition. Fortunately, there is growing recognition that climate action must support development goals and the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable populations.
Both the February 2022 report of the IPCC on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and the November 2021 Glasgow climate meetings, COP26, framed many of their conclusions around this objective. As IPCC vice-chair Ko Barrett explained, an effective response to climate change requires asking "Are we being fair and careful not to further disadvantage poor, vulnerable and under-represented populations?"
A statement on "Conditions for a Just Transition Internationally" prepared for COP26 and signed by 16 developed countries and the EU acknowledges their climate actions need to be fully inclusive and benefit "the most vulnerable through the more equitable distribution of resources, enhanced economic and political empowerment, improved health and wellbeing, resilience to shocks and disasters and access to skills development and employment opportunities."
These high-level declarations indicate new awareness of the importance and meaning of a just transition. There are also some recent initiatives toward putting this rhetoric into action. One is a significant commitment of climate funds to sustainable cooling projects.
Until recently, climate finance for access to cooling had been very limited outside of projects that promoted higher efficiency appliances and buildings. [5] Notably, such projects qualify as both mitigation and adaptation by reducing energy needs while also providing protection from extreme heat.
In October 2021, the Green Climate Fund approved USD 157 million for a new facility to help finance sustainable cooling projects implemented by the World Bank with an additional USD 722 million in leveraged co-finance. The facility will support nine countries to develop low-carbon and inclusive cooling solutions and focus on space cooling, refrigeration, and cold chains. In Kenya and Malawi, the facility will specifically address rural communities and ways of increasing their agricultural production.
The importance of sustainable cooling as a condition for the SDGs and climate goals appears belatedly to be receiving the attention it deserves. But with the clock ticking on the SDGs and a closing window for meeting the Paris climate goals, we have to move faster. This means rapidly scaling up investment in innovative cooling technologies and business models that make lifesaving cooling solutions affordable for all - and sustainable for the planet. In a warming world, we cannot deliver just and equitable energy transitions without them.
A personal look at SDG7 through the eyes of SEforALL colleagues
Editor's pick: Five actions to end cooking poverty
Cooking poverty remains one of the largest unsolved public health, climate, and equality crises humans have ever experienced. It kills over four million people annually and affects 3.83 billion people in 71 countries. [1] While the costs of eradication are high, costs of inaction – in terms of health, gender equity, and climate impacts – are even higher. Estimates of the social and environmental cost of this burden reach USD 2.4 trillion per year. [2] Alleviation of cooking poverty received only USD 131 million in 2018 [3], while the estimated cost for achieving improved cooking for all by 2030 is roughly USD 10 billion annually for the next 10 years. [4] In order to reach modern cooking, the price tag is USD 150 billion yearly.
Cooking poverty: Using wood, charcoal, dung or other solid fuels on three-stone fires or low-quality stoves in poorly ventilated conditions; includes individuals in Tiers 0-3 of the five-tier Multi-Tier Framework.
Achieving “affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern” cooking for all is essential to addressing the greater issue of energy poverty and meeting Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) in addition to reaching adjacent SDGs aimed at prosperity, gender equity, health, and climate. [5] The cooking poverty sector – a multitude of development organizations, governments, NGOs, and small and medium enterprises – is not on track to reach 2030 Sustainable Development targets. At present the industry’s current emphasis on “success” creates the appearance of progress. That needs to change when, in fact, neither the funding nor the human and institutional infrastructure exist at scale to eradicate cooking poverty in the foreseeable future.
Continuing on the current path will lead to the failure to eradicate cooking poverty, the related failure of SDG7 and the resulting failure of other sustainable development goals.
We believe another path exists. The cooking poverty sector has the opportunity to realign with the electricity access sector’s ecosystem and value chain. Within electrification efforts, an enormous base of experience is available for rapid dissemination; there is accessible infrastructure (e.g., physical, institutional, human resources, investment platforms, etc.) to expedite deployment of necessary resources and sufficient capital to be utilized if certain actions are taken:
Action 1 – rebrand and reframe the issue, using the term “cooking poverty” rather than “clean cooking” or similar terms. As clean or modern cooking services today represent only a fraction of the solution to cooking poverty, the name of the sector should reflect both the unsolved problem and the diversity of solutions to this complex issue (examples include public health, gender empowerment, enterprise development). While modern cooking is the end-goal in eradicating cooking poverty, harm reduction, incrementalism and “leapfrogging” to modern where possible are the means, and each needs attention. Only focusing on modern cooking due to its mortality reduction benefits shortchanges the end-user, stalls investment, and forces communities in need to wait for a leapfrog solution (electrification, high-end fuels) to modern cooking.
Action 2 – execute a moonshot effort to consolidate all presently available knowledge and information into a multipurpose and easy-to access Playbook, which must be accessible to new entrants and existing actors across the public and private sectors as well as civil society. Initiatives within the sector are currently ad hoc, knowledge and information sharing across entities is inconsistent, and best practices are hard to find and build upon. A cooking poverty sector strategy that empowers information sharing and collaboration on industry knowledge and expertise can bridge this gap and accelerate new entrants.
Action 3 – address SDG 7.1.1 and 7.1.2 together rather than in separate silos. Even if the tactical issues across the cooking sector (branding, collaboration, information sharing) are solved, and financial investment somehow reached the scale needed to reach SDG7 in the next nine years, the sector lacks the capacity to support solutions needed for 3.8 billion people - more than half the world’s population - that cook with solid fuels. Merging electrification and cooking efforts will require strong leadership, planning, and incentives.
Action 4 – use these reconstructed energy access initiatives to tap unprecedented amounts of climate finance. There is significant opportunity for a streamlined approach to utilizing carbon markets to finance small businesses and achieve improvements in energy, health, climate, and gender equality goals.
Action 5 – organize a donor/investor/government Compact around the principle of “complete and balanced support for all phases of the transition from cooking poverty to modern cooking.” This should align the largely ad hoc approach to fundraising, technical assistance, and policy creation (though this can still be specialized by technology or fuel).
1. ESMAP.2020. The State of Access to Modern Energy Cooking Services (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/937141600195758792/The-State-of-Access-to-Modern-Energy-Cooking-Services 2. Ibid. 3. “Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2020.” SEforALL, November 19, 2020. https://www.seforall.org/publications/energizing-finance-understanding-the-landscape-2020. 4. Ibid. 5. “Goal 7 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal7.
