New EIA Report: Beyond Words - A Framework for Private Sector Action on Sustainable Cooling — EIA

New EIA Report: Beyond Words – A Framework for Private Sector Action on Sustainable Cooling

BONN: Today, the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S. is releasing a new report Beyond Words: A Framework for Responsible Private Sector Action on Sustainable Cooling, calling for private sector commitments on cooling to be meaningful enough to tackle the climate crisis.

“The scale of the climate crisis necessitates the private sector to go beyond toothless commitments. Corporate cooling commitments have hitherto been a patchwork of actions with inconsistent additionality, measurability, cross-comparability and accountability,” said Avipsa Mahapatra, Climate Campaign Lead, EIA U.S. who launched the report at the UN’s mid-year climate meeting (SB58) in Bonn. “In this pivotal decade for climate action, the private sector must go beyond words, and meaningfully commit to unlocking the full potential of sustainable cooling to accelerate emissions reductions.”

EIA’s proposed framework aims to accelerate emission reductions through voluntary private sector commitments by ensuring consistent standards, metrics, and definitions, such as criteria for ultra-low GWP technology adoption, quantifiable emission reductions based on verifiable actions, and criteria and timeframe for reporting.

The new report analyzes case studies of prior corporate commitments representing more than 30 companies under the 2014 and 2015 White House HFC Roundtable Commitments, Consumer Goods Forum 2010 and 2016 Refrigerant Resolutions, and the UN-supported Race to Zero initiative. The analysis found insufficient metrics to evaluate commitments, lack of public reporting on implementation and how external factors impacted progress through company surveys. Engagement in previous initiatives has been dominated by a relatively narrow segment of companies particularly amongst end users and less than a quarter of cooling equipment manufacturers had set 2050 emission targets. Sustainable cooling is expected to be a major focus at the 2023 United Nations Climate Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai, where countries and companies are expected to announce cooling commitments.

CONTACTS FOR MEDIA

Avipsa Mahapatra, EIA U.S. Climate Campaign Lead, via [email protected] or +1 (347) 931 0129

Denise M. Stilley, EIA U.S. Head of Communications, via [email protected] or +1 (928) 225-7315