K-CEP Urges Cooling Projects Be Part of COVID-19 Rebuilding Plans

The Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP) has released a six-part brief proposing that sustainable, efficient cooling projects be incorporated into COVD-19 recovery projects supported by public and private funding.

K-CEP, a philanthropic group helping developing countries increase their energy efficiency, prepared the brief in collaboration with Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G), an independent climate change think tank.

The document is designed to help put the cooling sector “on the path to decarbonization and sustainability” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the group’s press release.

The brief identifies “six high-impact opportunities that can reduce emissions,increase job creation, and enhance economic output through the inclusion of efficient, climate-friendly cooling in stimulus packages.” These are:

• Bailouts for hard-hit sectors that support sustainable cooling. Funding for these sectors should be made contingent on adopting “efficient, climate-friendly cooling.”
• Cooling efficiency in the built environment. Rebate and incentive programs encourage the uptake of more efficient cooling, thus “stimulating the manufacturing sector and creating jobs and more disposable income due to energy cost savings.”
• Resilient and responsive cold chain logistics for healthcare and food security. This reduces “food and vaccine waste, improves health outcomes, and expands health system capacity for delivery of routine vaccinations, while also building capacity to respond to future shocks.”
• Cool retrofits and passive technologies. Labor-intensive upgrades to private and public buildings can “reduce indoor temperatures and cooling needs at a low marginal cost, while also returning peopleto work.”
• Expanding financing models to meet cooling needs. The brief suggests government incentives “catalyze an explosion in Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS), on-bill financing, Cooling as a Service (CaaS), and other models that encourage spending now and unleash savings and future pay back.” The CaaS Global E-Summit will take place on December 1, 2020 and more information about its work can be found here.
• Public and private investment in R&D for cooling. Grants and loans can be used to “sustain innovation in efficient, climate-friendly cooling, offering leading innovators a competitive advantage.”

The full report further outlines these steps and can be downloaded here.

More information on the E3G think tank can be found here, and more information about KCE-P and its work can be found on its website.