Side Event – MENA National Cooling Action Plans

Date: 8 December 2023                                   Time: 17:00 – 18:00 (GMT: +04:00)                                  Event Language: English

Format: In-person                                             Location: RCREEE Pavilion, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Organized by: United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP-led Cool Coalition , Climate and Clean Air Coalition(CCAC), Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE)

Description: 

The need of the hour is to equitably serve the growing demand for cooling without causing further warming and raising emissions. This requires targeted policy, technology and market levers to enable holistic solutions to address cooling, leveraging synergies across sectors, utilising passive cooling to the fullest extent possible, and meeting the mechanical cooling needs with the lowest possible energy and emissions footprint. The benefits of doing this are far-reaching. Improving the cooling industry’s energy efficiency and transitioning to climate-friendly refrigerants can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 210-460 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next four decades. These greenhouse gas emission cuts will be important to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

NCAPs can show the potential for the cooling sector to rapidly lower emissions and build the political will for cross-economy strategies and policies that target the cooling sector. This is particularly important in the MENA region, given the rapid rising growth in cooling demand and its climate vulnerability to rising heat. 

The event will showcase that cooling challenges require the engagement of multiple public and private sector stakeholders. National Cooling Action Plans (NCAPs) can be an important instrument to drive alignment by establishing strong political will and meaningful nationwide directives. 

The panel will also discuss the importance of NCAPs in leveraging inter-linkages with national and international agendas and set direction and actionable targets for addressing access to cooling while reducing its environmentally harmful impacts and maximising the socio-economic benefits. The speakers will highlight the multifaceted benefits of national cooling action plans (NCAPs), encompassing environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The new NCAP project of UNEP Cool Coalition in the MENA region funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition will also be presented, which will provide an opportunity for side event participants to engage and express interest for involvement in the project.”

Objectives:

• Goal 1: Share experience and lessons learned from developed NCAPs in the region and the world
• Goal 2: Discuss the future of cooling in the arab region

Contacts for the Event: 

• Souhir Hammami, Senior Energy Specialist,Cool Coalition, UNEP, souhir.hammami@un.org
• Clement Charnaillat, Cool Coalition Secretariat, UNEP, clement.charnaillat@un.org