Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has released the 2025 edition of its Chilling Prospects report, highlighting that more than one billion people remain at high risk due to lack of access to sustainable cooling solutions. The findings were presented on 24 July during the UNEP Cool Coalition’s "Cool Talks" webinar series.
According to the report, 309 million rural poor and 695 million urban poor are currently at high risk. An additional 2.83 billion people face medium risk. Without major interventions, the number of high-risk individuals could rise to 1.05 billion by 2030, an increase of 50 million from 2024. The report cites limited energy access, rising inequality, and increasing heat stress as key drivers.
The analysis covers 77 countries, including 54 classified as high-impact due to nationwide risk levels and 23 with regional heat exposure risks. SEforALL noted that countries such as China are showing progress, while vulnerability continues to grow in Sub-Saharan Africa because of rapid urbanization and insufficient access to energy.
Recommendations in the report include promoting passive building and cold chain design, strengthening energy efficiency standards, improving affordability through policy and technology innovation, and accelerating the shift away from high-global-warming refrigerants.
“Cooling underpins the ability of millions to escape poverty, to keep classrooms cool for children, vaccines stable, food nutritious, and economies productive,” said Brian Dean, Director of Energy Transition at SEforALL. “Progress depends heavily on a conducive enabling environment for sustainable cooling as well as unlocking a diverse set of financial resources to meet growing needs.”
Additional data releases are planned ahead of COP 30.