As temperatures rise and demand for cooling grows, countries face a shared challenge: how to provide the cooling people need without adding to the climate crisis. UNDP works with countries around the world to make cooling more sustainable, energy-efficient and climate-friendly.

Cooling is part of everyday life. It keeps homes, schools and workplaces comfortable and safe. It helps hospitals protect medicines and vaccines, businesses keep products at the right temperature, and farmers and food systems reduce losses from farm to market.

And its importance is growing.

As the world gets hotter, populations grow and incomes rise, demand for cooling is expected to more than triple by 2050. Cooling systems already account for around one-fifth of global electricity consumption.

Meeting this growing need is essential. But how we meet it matters.

The hidden impact of keeping cool

Most of us rarely think about what happens inside an air conditioner or refrigerator. Yet the technology we use to keep things cool has an environmental footprint.

Cooling equipment needs energy, and inefficient systems can put significant pressure on electricity grids and increase greenhouse gas emissions where electricity is generated from fossil fuels.

Refrigerators, air conditioners and other cooling equipment also rely on substances known as refrigerants. For decades, some commonly used refrigerants damaged the ozone layer. The world has made remarkable progress in replacing these ozone-depleting substances, but some of their replacements – hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs – are powerful greenhouse gases.

This means that making cooling more sustainable requires tackling both sides of the challenge: reducing the climate impact of refrigerants and improving the efficiency of the equipment and systems that use them.

The goal is not less access to cooling. It is better cooling: accessible where it is needed, more efficient in the energy it uses, and with a much smaller impact on the climate.

From protecting the ozone layer to protecting the climate

Adopted in 1987, the Montreal Protocol brought countries together to protect the ozone layer by phasing out chemicals that were damaging it. More than 98 percent of controlled ozone-depleting substances have since been eliminated globally, putting the ozone layer on a path towards recovery.

As countries moved away from ozone-depleting refrigerants, HFCs became widely used as alternatives. HFCs do not damage the ozone layer, but many have a high global warming potential.

Recognizing this challenge, countries adopted the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016. Under the Amendment, countries are gradually reducing the production and consumption of HFCs and transitioning towards alternatives with lower climate impacts.

Full implementation of the Kigali Amendment could avoid an estimated 0.3-0.5°C of global warming by the end of this century. When the transition to lower-impact refrigerants is combined with more energy-efficient cooling, the climate benefits can be even greater.

Kigali at 10: a decade of progress

In 2026, the world marks ten years since the Kigali Amendment was adopted.

There are encouraging signs of progress. As of September 2026, 174 countries had ratified the Amendment. Reported data cover all global HFC production and 96 percent of consumption.

Global HFC production and consumption peaked in 2023 and have since begun to decline. In 2024, reported HFC consumption was 30 percent below the collective baseline established under the Amendment.

These numbers represent more than progress against international targets. They show what can happen when countries agree on a common direction and translate global commitments into changes in policies, technologies, industries and skills.

But the transition is still underway. Demand for cooling continues to grow, and countries need solutions that can expand access to cooling while reducing emissions and pressure on energy systems.

How UNDP supports countries

UNDP has supported countries in implementing the Montreal Protocol since 1991. As an implementing agency of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, UNDP works with governments, businesses and other partners to turn international commitments into practical action at the country level.

That work takes different forms depending on what countries need.

UNDP supports the development of policies, regulations and national strategies; helps industries and businesses transition to more climate-friendly technologies; strengthens institutions responsible for implementing the Montreal Protocol; and supports training and certification for the technicians who install and service cooling equipment.

UNDP also works with countries to improve energy efficiency, mobilize finance, test innovative technologies and approaches, and develop Kigali Implementation Plans that set out how countries will meet their HFC phase-down commitments.

Increasingly, this work looks at cooling as a wider development challenge. Sustainable cooling can help protect people from extreme heat, strengthen food and medical cold chains, reduce energy demand and costs, and support industries and economies as they transition towards cleaner technologies.

Since 1991, UNDP has partnered with around 120 countries. Today, this experience is helping countries move into the next phase of the transition: protecting the gains made for the ozone layer while building cooling systems that are fit for a warming world.

A different way to start the conversation

So, what do a polar bear, penguin, seal and snow leopard have to do with sustainable cooling?

They are a way into the conversation.

At the 38th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, Rwanda, UNDP is working with Elf world to use a limited collection of wildlife-inspired characters – a polar bear, penguin, seal and snow leopard – as public information materials to help make the story of sustainable cooling more approachable and memorable.

The characters are not intended to suggest that these individual species are directly affected by refrigerants or cooling technologies. Instead, they provide a visual starting point for a much bigger story: how the choices we make about cooling connect with energy, climate change and our shared environment.