Product Demonstration, Statement, Other
How to keep cool while the world gets hotter
- Global temperatures are projected to rise significantly, driving increased air conditioning demand and exacerbating environmental conditions through a feedback loop where cooling contributes to further warming.
- Without policy intervention, emissions from cooling are forecast to increase by 90% above 2017 levels by 2050, at which point approximately two-thirds of the world's households are expected to possess air conditioning.
- The poorest populations are predicted to face barriers in accessing innovative and efficient cooling technologies, while nascent solutions like the SkyCool system and current projects such as the Global Centre on Adaptation are viewed as insufficient for affordable, mass-scale deployment.
- Urban heat island effects, exemplified by the worsening conditions in Athens, are expected to intensify, disproportionately impacting disadvantaged communities, though specific local plans include establishing three green corridors in Athens within the next two years.
- Continuation of current trends suggests a future characterized by higher temperatures and more frequent extreme climate phenomena, necessitating unprecedented cooperation among industry, government, finance, and civil society to implement city-wide and country-wide solutions.
- Future strategies require the immediate deployment of existing efficient technologies alongside the invention of new innovations to enable the developing world to leapfrog toward a cooler future.