As part of the global project Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change II (C4 II), a series of webinars has been initiated to address a critical aspect of climate action: integrating the cooling sector into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The sessions serve as a platform to disseminate tools, methods and best practice examples to incorporate cooling strategies into the national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, highlighting the pivotal role of the cooling sector in achieving these targets.
The importance of the cooling sector in shaping more ambitious and robust NDCs cannot be overstated. With the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector accounting for over 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative to address both direct emissions from refrigerants and indirect emissions arising from fossil-fuel-based energy sources used to power cooling equipment. Cooling sector specific mitigation targets and measures can significantly contribute to achieving a country’s overall climate target and therefore, need to be considered when defining and updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).