The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will hold a technical side event on 14 July 2025 during the 20th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20) in Nairobi, Kenya. The session, Dialogue for Sustainable Cooling in Buildings, Cities, and Cold Chain for Inclusive Extreme Heat Adaptation in Africa, will take place from 13:00 to 14:45 EAT at Conference Room 10, UNON Compound.
The event will address Africa’s growing exposure to extreme heat, which poses increasing risks to health, productivity, and sustainable development. According to recent data, about 300 million people in Africa faced life-threatening heat stress in the past year—approximately 75% of the global total. Rapid urbanization and rising temperatures are driving demand for cooling, straining energy systems and household budgets.
UNEP and SDC will showcase passive cooling strategies and efficient cold chain solutions implemented in India and South-East Asia. These approaches, such as climate-responsive architecture, can reduce indoor temperatures by 3–4 °C and lower cooling energy demand by around 30%. The event will highlight the BeCool project in India, which has influenced national policies, building regulations, and heat-resilient city planning.
UNEP’s Cool Coalition and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) are supporting governments and stakeholders with technical cooperation and policy alignment for sustainable cooling. Initiatives like the Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate (ICBC) and the Buildings Breakthrough are also contributing to international collaboration for building decarbonization and resilience.
The event aims to promote knowledge exchange, identify pathways for investment and capacity building, and strengthen regional collaboration to scale sustainable cooling solutions in Africa.