Windows To The Future

About K-CEP

The Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP) is a philanthropic collaboration launched in 2017 to support the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol and the transition to efficient, clean cooling solutions for all. K-CEP’s program office, the Efficiency Cooling Office, is housed at the ClimateWorks Foundation.

Foreword

By Erin Rogers, Program Officer, Environment, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

In October 2016, I stood facing hundreds of delegates at the UN Montreal Protocol meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. I was there to deliver a promise on behalf of the diverse foundations and individual donors that had collectively pledged more than $50 million in support. For those developing nations that agreed to rapidly phase down super-polluting refrigerants, we pledged support for adopting energy-efficient cooling at the same time. We committed to rapidly deploy the funding, to match the countries’ commitment to a rapid transition of refrigerants.

We moved quickly within a short window of opportunity in ways that neither government nor the private sector can easily do. The scale and speed of this initiative (the largest philanthropic energy efficiency fund ever created), the potential for impact, and the intensity of ongoing collaboration as K-CEP moves into implementation in partnership with government and the private sector have been exceptional.

Within five months of the adoption of the Kigali Amendment, we formed a Funder Steering Committee, agreed to principles of collaboration, hired three expert staff who formed the Efficiency Cooling Office, launched a 20-member Technical Advisory Committee, and sought input from around the world to develop a robust strategy. We officially launched the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program in March 2017.

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K-CEP is able to report even more exciting progress in this first Annual Report. At the end of its first year in operation, K-CEP is reporting on close to $30 million committed to projects, including direct support to 38 countries. Alongside new partners, K-CEP is charting new territory: for the first time, the UN’s Montreal Protocol experts are diving into energy efficiency and connecting with energy policy-makers. For the first time under the Kigali Amendment, the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund will support an industrial manufacturing conversion project (which K-CEP is supporting to bring in efficiency). K-CEP’s grantee community is collectively tracking results, and we are all learning and adapting as we go.

On behalf of all of the K-CEP philanthropic funders, I offer deep appreciation for the years of hard work by NGOs, governments, and many others that led up to this moment, and for all of the continued work that is to come. I’m inspired by the creativity, passion, tenacity, and spirit of collaboration that pervades this effort, and hopeful that we will be successful in saving lives, increasing health and prosperity, and cooling the planet.

K-CEP's First Year

By Dan Hamza-Goodacre, K-CEP Executive Director

I’d like to start by saying thank you to everyone working to make cooling more efficient and clean.

You are advancing one of the biggest solutions to climate change and unlocking benefits for health, livelihoods, and access to energy.

These collective efforts will make our planet safer, more equitable, and more prosperous. I hope you enjoy reading the first annual report for the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP), and that it fills you with a bit more optimism about the future.

Our focus in this first year has been laying a solid foundation for program “take-off.” K-CEP was established to support developing countries integrate energy efficiency into the reduction of super polluting fluorinated gases (HCFCs and HFCs), used as refrigerants in cooling. This is required under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the world’s most successful environmental agreement, and can avoid up to 0.5° Celsius of warming by end of this century. Our parallel efforts to improve energy efficiency of air conditioners and other cooling devices could double the size of the climate prize to 1°C of avoided warming, essential to the goal of limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2°C.

The baseline on cooling efficiency is unacceptable– the market average efficiency of air-conditioners is three times less than the best available efficiency. In many developing countries it is far worse. The majority of countries still have no or extremely low minimum energy performance standards for cooling technology.

The impacts of needless inefficiency are dreadful: Approximately 500 million people are at high risk from heat stress, most of them women, children, and the elderly; and 400 million tons of food is wasted each year, much of which is a result of non-existent cold chains needed to preserve food. Another 2 million lives are lost each year due to a lack of vaccines, many of which spoil in the absence of cooling. We can and must do better to bring efficient, clean cooling to all.

In K-CEP’s first year, we have offered support to 38 countries which together represent the biggest climate pollution opportunities in the developing world. We have also supported a global training platform to be launched in Beijing this April, to provide capacity building for all 147 developing countries.

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In shaping our work, the K-CEP community of international organizations, NGOs, academics, businesses, and expert advisors, has responded to country needs, whilst pushing for the greatest ambition. That is why K-CEP philanthropic funding is committed to those countries pledging to go furthest and fastest with their commitments to the Montreal Protocol F-gas transition. Of course more needs to be done by us and by others, but with focus, resolve and the capacity to act, we can make a quantum leap forward in efficient, clean cooling in the next few years.

There’s a lot for you to discover. As you read about early stage policy and private sector action and global leadership by the United Nations, you will see how the movement is building. Only together will we realize the huge prize from efficient, clean cooling and avoid a downward spiral where inefficient cooling continues to warm the planet, while spurring demand for even more damaging cooling. By helping governments, businesses, and consumers step up, then together we can raise cooling technology standards, unlock capital, and transform markets so that efficient, clean cooling can be used by all.

With “cool” wishes,
Dan

The Year in Numbers

Interviews With Minister Vincent Biruta and Jürgen Fischer

Hon. Dr. Vincent Biruta
Minister of Environment for Rwanda

Why is efficient, clean cooling so important for Rwanda?

Rwanda’s vision is to become a developed, low carbon economy by 2050. To achieve this, we need to foster economic growth that is inclusive and sustainable. By harnessing the latest technologies, we can improve access to efficient cooling appliances including air conditioners and fridges, while also reducing government spend on energy generation and electricity bills for consumers. This has a positive economic impact as energy costs in sectors, e.g. industry, health and education, shall be reduced. Efficient cooling is central to our green growth ambitions.

Rwanda showed great leadership in securing the next phase of the Montreal Protocol. How can the strengths of the Montreal Protocol be applied to realize more efficient, clean cooling?

The Protocol’s success lies in the partnerships between policy makers, scientists, and industry. It is an agreement for which everyone is on board and working to agreed goals to phase out ozone depleting substances and to phase down HFCs. We now have an opportunity to apply the strengths of the Protocol to energy efficiency. Doing so could double the climate benefits of the Kigali Amendment, and avoid up to one degree Celsius of warming by 2100.

What options is the Government of Rwanda considering to promote efficient, clean cooling?

We are pleased to be working with K-CEP and UN Environment on the Rwanda Cooling Initiative. This includes an energy efficiency market survey, development of a National Cooling Strategy, and exploration of energy performance standards and labeling. We are confident this will support Rwanda to promote efficient, clean cooling as required by the Kigali Amendment. We are also developing green building standards to encourage smart design and the use of construction materials and techniques for passive cooling.

What will the world of cooling look like in future?

In the future the world of cooling will be efficient, connected and smart. Demand for cooling will no longer be a major cause of global warming. Cooling will be available and affordable for all. Cooling appliances, from the household level to industry, will utilize the latest technology meeting stringent efficiency standards and the requirements of the Kigali Amendment. These systems will be connected, with thermal cooling and demand management enhancing efficiency and efficacy.

 

Jürgen Fischer
President of Danfoss Cooling, a global business that engineers technologies that cool people, products and the planet.

What is Danfoss doing to progress sustainable cooling?

As an industry leader in air-conditioning and refrigeration, we work with our customers and organizations such as SEforALL and the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment. We also support international efforts such as the Montreal Protocol, to advance a pathway to sustainable cooling. Through continued investment in innovation we actively develop low-GWP refrigerant technologies and ways of combining energy efficient heating and cooling to unleash the full potential of cooling technologies.

What challenges does business face in making sustainable cooling accessible to all?

A united effort is needed if we are to seize the potential of sustainable cooling technology. Two actions are key to make sustainable cooling accessible for all: First, existing minimum energy performance standards need to be enforced and second, installers and users need to be trained in handling and optimal maintenance of cooling systems.

If you were a policy maker what would you do to progress sustainable cooling as quickly as possible?

At Danfoss we trust in regulatory frameworks that shape the sector in two ways: by raising awareness about the energy savings from existing best in class cooling technology; and enabling the cooling sector to accelerate the uptake of renewable energy by utilizing its thermal storage capacity. We need to incentivize energy-efficient technology by using a total cost of ownership perspective. For example, if European standard cold chains are implemented in developing countries, a significant reduction in the post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables for 2-3 years could finance the technology and enhance farmer incomes.

How confident are you that climate impact from cooling will come down as needed and why?

There is great CO2 saving potential by implementing best-available technology today, so we are confident. Take the food cold chain, for example, where globally one third of all food produced is either lost or wasted due to inadequate refrigeration. By leveraging existing elements of their cold chain, like refrigerated trucks and storage rooms for farmer cooperatives, we can improve the lifespan of food and reduce food wastage.

Institutional Strengthening for Efficiency
01

K-CEP is working with Montreal Protocol institutions and associated agencies, parties and companies, to support developing countries in integrating energy efficiency into the F-gas transition, thereby cutting pollution and costs, while improving access to clean, efficient cooling. 

There are many opportunities to achieve improvements in Energy Efficiency during the transition to low GWP refrigerants.
The Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panel

Supporting ambitious governments to develop national cooling efficiency plans

Training and capacity building for National Ozone Officers and energy efficiency policy makers

Support to enhance and integrate existing knowledge resources such as training manuals, knowledge platforms and toolkits on energy efficient cooling

Case Study

Maximizing the efficiency of domestic refrigerators by working with manufacturers in Bangladesh

More About This Case Study

The international HFC phase down will mean that many manufacturers must retool their production lines to produce appliances which use climate-friendly refrigerants. This transition provides an opportunity to switch to energy efficient appliance designs at the same time.

In November 2017, the Multilateral Fund (MLF) Executive Committee approved the first ever manufacturing plant conversion investment project under the Kigali Amendment. This financing will allow Bangladesh to eliminate 85% of HFC-134a, a super polluting refrigerant which is largely consumed by the domestic refrigerator manufacturing sector. K-CEP is working alongside the MLF so as to maximize the energy efficiency of domestic refrigerators produced in Bangladesh as the country moves to using low-GWP refrigerants.

K-CEP’s support, combined with MLF and Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd funding, will directly promote the phase-out of 282 tons CO2e in the Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd plant.

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UNDP and Bangladesh’s Department of the Environment are working with Walton, the leading domestic refrigerator manufacturer in Bangladesh. Walton is at a decision point around designs and appliance sizes, however there is a lack of in-house knowledge on how to incorporate best practice energy efficiency design into their appliances. K-CEP support will provide technical advice and capacity building to help Walton to improve its equipment design, use efficient components, and optimize appliance energy consumption.

This first of its kind project will enable Bangladesh and Walton to meet their aims to manufacture energy efficient equipment that uses climate-friendly refrigerants and optimize the conversion of Walton’s plant. More broadly, there is an opportunity to shift the domestic refrigerator market to efficient, clean products, build capacity to help further develop energy efficiency standards, and raise public awareness of energy efficiency in the domestic refrigeration sector.

Policies, Standards and Programs
02

K-CEP engages with countries willing to ambitiously and quickly integrate energy efficiency into solutions to deliver cooling. 

Governments should implement new policies that help manufacturers' energy-efficient and climate-friendly appliances enter markets to meet growing demand for cooling services.
Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment, Hakan Bulgurlu, Chief Executive officer at Arçelik AŞ, and Egel Larsson Grossman, Chief Executive officer at MABE.

Supporting standards and labeling to drive best practice efficient AC markets

Designing and implementing financial mechanisms for efficient, clean cooling

Support with compliance and verification systems

Supporting private sector leadership initiatives in energy efficient cooling

By gathering together the low-carbon solutions used in the Consumer Goods sector – from manufacturing to distribution to final consumers – we will be able to accelerate the implementation of efficient and proven technologies, thus increasing the sector's contribution to the climate transition.
Alexandre Bompard, Chairman and CEO of Carrefour, a major international supermarket which has committed to the 2016 CGF Resolution.
Case Study

Cooling Efficiency in China – a global scale opportunity

More About This Case Study

China is the world’s largest manufacturer, consumer and exporter of room air conditioners. As well as Chinese leaders Gree, Haier and Midea, the major global manufacturers, such as Korea’s LG and Samsung; Japan’s Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu and Hitachi; and Fedders from the US, have all established factories in China.

China’s progress on cooling efficiency is critical to global success in reducing emissions from cooling. K-CEP aims to help China lead the global transition to clean, efficient cooling through enabling policy and business leadership.

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AC ownership in China’s cities skyrocketed from almost 0% in the 1990s to over one AC unit per person in 2005. For the Chinese market alone, shifting the 2030 stock of room air conditioners to ones using improved efficiency technology and low-GWP refrigerants would reduce annual emissions by an estimated 0.85Gt CO2e, equivalent to over eight times the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam. Raising domestic standards for efficiency in residential ACs has a knock on potential, because China exports a similar volume of room ACs as it sells domestically.

K-CEP is supporting the Energy Foundation China (EFC) to maximize the mitigation potential in residential and commercial air-conditioning in China through the development of energy efficiency standards and labels and complementary market transformation programs. The estimated pollution reduction potential is 43.6 Gt CO2e over the period 2020-2050. This work is being coordinated under the China Cooling Efficiency Initiative with a project led by IGSD with LBNL and CNIS to strengthen MEPS for China’s room ACs.

EFC is working with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE, former Ministry of Environment Protection) and National Development Reform Commission (NDRC), as well as supporting partners from research institutes, NGOs, industry associations, AC manufactures and retailers. The approach includes standard setting, labeling, financial incentives, training and policy enforcement, underpinned by techno-economic analysis of policies and the production of a best practice guide for efficient cooling solutions in the domestic and global markets. EFC also supports a technical steering committee on cooling efficiency to advise the integration of energy efficiency improvement led by NDRC and Montreal Protocol implementation led by MEE.

China will make sustained efforts to promote cooling efficiency.
Wang Shancheng, Deputy Director General of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection (NDRC)
Finance
03

Finance is a barrier to advancing energy efficiency in cooling solutions, however less than 0.1% of total Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is currently directed to cooling solutions. Significantly more public and private financing is needed for a transformational shift to efficient, clean cooling for all.

Access to Cooling
04

Cooling is an essential part of everyday life – our food is kept chilled, life-saving vaccines and temperature-sensitive medicines are stored safely, agriculture products are delivered to the market, and our work, home, religious, educational and recreational environments are kept comfortable.

Access to cooling is vital for some vaccination programs
As temperatures soar, cooling demands risk creating a significant increase in energy demand, that if not managed through super-efficient technologies or clean sources, will cause further climate change impacts and a rise in emissions. The work of the Global Panel will therefore be critical to develop the evidence we need to understand the challenges and opportunities of providing cooling access for all.
Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)

Map: Action on Cooling Efficiency

The Efficiency Cooling Office

The Efficiency Cooling Office (ECO) serves as the K-CEP program office, housed at ClimateWorks Foundation. ECO provides grant-making, reporting, program and knowledge management, and other services to help K-CEP funders and partners collaborate and maximize the climate and development benefits of K-CEP.

The team is led by Dan Hamza-Goodacre, K-CEP Executive Director. Dr. Gabrielle Dreyfus is Head of Policies, Standards, and Programs. Hu Min is the China Adviser and Head of Access to Cooling. Shilpa Patel is Head of the Finance Window and Hex Picot is the Program Management Officer. They are supported by finance, administration, collaboration, events and reporting, monitoring, evaluation and learning experts.

So what have we been doing in our first year?

Program strategy, engagement and collaboration

Our strategy and theory of change was devised in consultation with over 100 experts. We support the Montreal Protocol process while embedding energy efficiency into the refrigerant transition. Engagement with experts and funders was built into our way of working from the outset, including setting up a diverse Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to provide guidance on strategy, investments, and implementation. Funder engagement is core to our approach. We report to our Funder Steering Committee (FSC) during quarterly meetings, and based on a ‘scorecard’. The K-CEP Business Plan sets out our systems, procedures and approach. And because learning is a key part of our program, an independent evaluation is being set up.

Collaboration within our K-CEP community of grantees, advisors and funders is the backbone of ensuring an effective program with a lasting legacy. K-CEP launched an online portal as a dedicated informal space for information sharing, updates and discussion. This provides a unique opportunity for program partners to collaborate in real time and help ensure that K-CEP’s impact stretches beyond direct implementation benefits, to a wider, major shift in awareness around efficient, clean cooling within the climate and development fields.

K-CEP has made it possible for our UN Environment teams working on energy efficiency and ozone layer protection to join forces in a deep way. We have very complementary knowledge, skills, and networks but haven’t ever worked together on a common cause. The Kigali Amendment provides the rationale and K-CEP provides the framework and funding that’s made this deep collaboration possible.

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Mark Radka – Chief, Energy and Climate Branch, Economy Division, UN Environment

Communications

Our communications share news of activities and progress with our partners and stakeholders. Our website houses program information, along with knowledge products and news. We also share updates via our quarterly newsletter and Twitter feed. In the last year, we have launched the following:

Website – 15,039 unique pageviews

Knowledge – 4 K-CEP newsletters and 5 K-CEP publications

K-CEP Timeline

Project List

Results Framework

The K-CEP results framework is key to our progress. It enables us to use our strategy and intended impact in order to determine activities during the years of the program, and the longer term outcomes we are aiming to achieve. This table shows activities set out for the first year of K-CEP, and our progress against them. The overall results framework has been agreed with our Funders, and we have worked with our partners to determine the activities and outcomes that individual projects contribute towards achieving.

Kigali Progress Tracker

Kigali Progress Tracker

A single resource for all cooling-related information

The International Energy Agency (IEA) tracks, analyzes and manages global energy data and is developing the new Global Exchange Platform as a one-stop resource on energy efficiency. The first deep-dive module within this platform is on cooling. The module serves as the Kigali Progress Tracker and brings together all cooling-related information into a single resource.

Tracking market progress towards efficient, clean cooling

This new Global Exchange on Cooling is collecting information on cooling efficiency and enables users to generate charts, maps and download data on cooling energy use, policy and technology data, including information on: MEPS and appliance labels across 57 countries; summaries of cooling equipment efficiencies (data mined for more than 2 million pieces of cooling equipment); and cooling energy use by country and region.

In addition to setting up the Exchange, this first year has focused on establishing baselines. As the graph below demonstrates, the baseline for penetration of efficient air-conditioners in various markets around the world is low – the market average efficiency of air-conditioners is three times less than the best available efficiency. In many developing countries it is far worse. The majority of countries still have no or extremely low minimum energy performance standards for cooling technology. This platform is enabling the IEA and K-CEP to track the success of the program while also using the improved data and analysis to design improved policies, better allocate funding, and identify appropriate technology opportunities.

The market average residential air conditioners tend to be only half as efficient as the best models on the market. Note: seasonal energy efficiency ratio metrics are not directly comparable across countries.

Live feedback and improvement

In addition to IEA research, the new platform is also developed to enable partners and the public to provide feedback directly inside the platform to enable improved data collection and information sharing. Reporting from K-CEP partners can also be imported into the platform to enable improved data and information for countries that K-CEP is supporting. The Global Exchange on Cooling is already generating fresh insights into cooling emissions, markets and policies that are being used to understand market variations and track progress by country, technology and policy.

Financial Update

To promote efficient, clean cooling for developing countries, K-CEP aims to be:

  • Fast start – measures are put in place and implemented on a rapid timescale
  • Value for money – maximizing impact and funding to the field
  • Anchored by work on the ground – fund local organizations where possible
  • Fostering a collaborative learning environment – encourages best practice sharing

A fast start

Our mission is an urgent one, and for K-CEP to deliver against our results framework within our program lifespan we must move quickly. In the first year, K-CEP has committed $30m of funding, of which over $22m has been awarded to date.

Delivering value

K-CEP provides many multi-year grants, allowing grantees to create effective multi-year implementation plans, and operates on a milestone driven approach to ensure value for money and accountability for results.

The ECO team implements K-CEP on a lean staffing model, in order to maximize the percentage of K-CEP funding which goes to grants. We also seek opportunities to co-fund with other organisations, and to find partnerships with organisations and individuals, in the public and private sector, through which our efforts can enhance theirs for greater collective impact.

Feet on the ground in developing countries

K-CEP’s grant-making provides an opportunity to promote capacity building within developing country institutions and south-south knowledge sharing. Encouraging our grantees to contract local experts increases the likelihood of our impacts being sustainable in the long term in the countries in which we work.

In year 1, 30% of funds awarded have gone to developing country organizations and individuals, and 48% has gone to UN organizations and the World Bank. The percentage of funding going towards developing country institutions is set to increase as our grantees such as UN agencies contract developing country experts to deliver capacity building and technical assistance on the ground.

In our first year, K-CEP funding has gone to support 38 countries, working through 15 organizations.

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Funding by K-CEP Window

Creating a collaborative learning environment

K-CEP seeks to leverage the vast amount of talent and expertise within our grantee institutions, in order to create greater impact within the K-CEP program and related efforts. K-CEP invests to bring together grantees, experts and funders for in-person and virtual collaborations, allowing best practices sharing on common challenges, and creates a strong and supportive network. Learnings can be applied to other cooling projects beyond K-CEP to create even more impact on the refrigerant transition and cooling efficiency.

Looking ahead

In year two of the program our funding aims are to commit the rest of the funds available, increase the amount of funding going to local organizations and individuals, unlock additional finance using our funds, and improve efficiencies in the running of the program.

K-CEP would like to thank all our partners for their contributions to efficient, clean cooling for all.

Special Thanks

K-CEP thanks its partners and Technical Advisory Committee for their contributions to efficient, clean cooling for all.

Technical Advisory Committee

Sommai Phon-Amnuaisuk
International Institute for Energy Conservation

Iain Campbell
Rocky Mountain Institute

Suely Carvalho
Independent Consultant

Walid Chakroun
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

Brian Dean
International Energy Agency

Christine Egan
CLASP

Samira Elkhamlichi
World Bank

Marco Gonzalez
Independent Consultant

Alex Hillbrand
Natural Resources Defense Council

Rachel Kyte
Sustainable Energy For All

Davinder Lail
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom

Shamila Nair-Bedouelle
United National Environment Programme

Samual Pare
Burkina Faso Government

Clare Perry
Environmental Investigation Agency

Stephan Sicars
United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Romina Picolotti
Centre for Human Rights and the Environment

He Ping
Energy Foundation China

Nihar Shah
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

James Wolf
Independent Consultant

Durwood Zaelke
Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development

Xiaofang Zhou
United Nations Development Programme