Excellencies and Colleagues,
Welcome to the launch of the Beat the Heat/Mutiro contra o Calor Extremo Implementation Drive, an initiative from the COP 30 Presidency and UNEP-led Cool Coalition. My thanks go to Brazil and the COP30 Presidency for this important partnership, which aims to translate the Global Cooling Pledge into local action and to deliver on the UN Secretary-Generals Call to Action on Extreme Heat.
Under the Global Cooling Pledge, 72 countries are cooperating on reducing cooling-related emissions by over 60 per cent by 2050, while growing access to sustainable cooling for all.
Reaching these targets is crucial, because extreme heat is the clearest signal of the climate crisis. Extreme heat is already deadly, causing around 500,000 deaths per year. And it will get worse. Despite some progress, the new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) have not done enough to lower warming predictions. UNEPs Emissions Gap Report 2025 tells us we are heading for global warming of at least 2.3-2.5C unless.
Cities suffer the most from heatwaves. The urban heat island effect can drive local temperatures up to 10C higher than surrounding rural zones. By 2050, the number of urban poor exposed to dangerous heat could increase by 700 per cent. So, action on heat in cities is essential. This is why it is so important that 160 cities, from Rio de Janeiro to Chennai to Nairobi, as well as 80 partners many of them here with us today have joined Beat the Heat alongside the Global Cooling Pledge country signatories.
Friends,
We cannot air-condition our way out of the heat crisis. Yes, access to cooling saves lives and determines whether economies, schools and hospitals function. But if delivered unsustainably, cooling drives greenhouse gas emissions, inequality and grid collapse. So, the challenge is twofold: to expand affordable, efficient cooling for adaptation while cutting its energy and carbon footprint for mitigation.
This can be done. The Global Cooling Watch report UNEP released today sets out a Sustainable Cooling Pathway: leaning on passive and nature-based cooling, on low-energy cooling like fans, on energy efficiency, and on fast action to phase down climate-warming refrigerants. This pathway could cut cooling emissions by 64 per cent by 2050 while providing cooling access for three billion people and up to US$43 trillion in electricity and infrastructure savings
The passive, nature-based and low-energy solutions in the Sustainable Cooling Pathway underpin the Beat the Heat implementation drive. They can deliver nearly two-thirds of the potential cooling emissions reduction by 2050. They are affordable and scalable. Most importantly, they are local.
Through Beat the Heat, we will support cities and regions to deliver on the pathway by assessing heat risks, figuring out where to increase green covers or cool roofs and integrating these solutions into urban planning. We will support them to expand nature-based and passive cooling in cities and buildings. To use public procurement to shift markets towards efficient, low-global warming potential cooling technologies. And to bridge gaps in planning, finance and delivery of heat resilience and cooling.
UNEP has the experience to help get the job done at a local level. With backing from Switzerland, Denmark and ClimateWorks Foundation, the UNEP-led Cool Coalition is supporting cities and states to assess heat risks, plan cooling solutions, create green urban environments and more. The approach is so effective that India is redesigning its US$1.5 billion national disaster mitigation fund to allocate finance for passive cooling.
The UNEP-led Cool Coalition will also provide institutional anchoring, visibility, reporting and implementation mechanisms for Beat the Heat. Report back at the Cooling Ministerial every year. Support 100 cities from the Global South to carry out heat assessments and identify cooling solutions. And support these cities to move from emergency response to long-term planning, integrating heat resilience into urban design, building codes and public infrastructure
Friends,
Let us recognize that cooling from sustainable air-conditioning and refrigeration to every tree in our cities is essential infrastructure, alongside water, energy, and sanitation. Let us follow the Sustainable Cooling Pathway. Deliver on the Global Cooling Pledge. And beat the heat, together.
