Global Cooling Pledge

United Nations 3 years ago

The Global Cooling Pledge provides an opportunity to commit to sustainable cooling with concrete actions. An initiative of the United Arab Emirates as host of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the Pledge is one of nine non-negotiated declarations, pledges, and charters that constitute key outcomes for the COP28 Presidential Action Agenda.  It aims to raise ambition and international cooperation through collective global targets to reduce cooling related emissions by 68% from today by 2050, significantly increase access to sustainable cooling by 2030, and increase the global average efficiency of new air conditioners by 50%. The emission targets draw on the modelling from the UNEP Cool Coalition report Global Cooling Watch 2023 Keeping it Chill: How to meet cooling demands while cutting emissions. Below are the list of countries that have pledged to the Global Cooling Pledge: Antigua and Barbuda,  Armenia Belgium Bhutan Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cambodia Canada Chad Chile Comoros Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominican Republic El Salvador Eswatini Ethiopia France Germany Ghana Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Maldives Micronesia Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Nepal Netherlands Nicaragua Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Palau Panama Peru Rwanda Saint Lucia Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands Somalia Spain Sri Lanka Syrian Arab Republic Thailand Togo Tunisia United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Vietnam Zimbabwe
→ View Full Article

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 8 hours ago



Record-breaking heat across Europe has forced a decisive shift in sustainable construction from awareness to immediate adaptation. Research from the University of Reading indicates that site practices remain inadequately prepared for extreme temperatures, risking productivity, worker safety, and the environmental sustainability of construction activity. With embodied carbon and whole life carbon now central to regulatory and design reform, the sector is moving toward a data-led response where lifecycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis determine both risk and value.

The EU’s implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive has accelerated low carbon design and large-scale retrofit strategies, positioning net zero carbon buildings as an economic imperative rather than a technical experiment. Governments, including the UK’s, are integrating whole life carbon assessment into policy frameworks to support resilient, energy-efficient buildings that meet net zero whole life carbon benchmarks. This alignment between climate security and the built environment is driving a new generation of sustainable building design, where embodied carbon in materials, resource efficiency in construction, and circular economy principles guide investment decisions.

Capital flows are following these trends toward greener supply chains and low embodied carbon materials. The UK’s £50 million commitment to critical minerals reflects a pivot to renewable building materials and carbon neutral construction pathways. Advances in eco‑design for buildings and sustainable material specification are moving from concept to deployment through innovations such as green concrete and thermally adaptive composites. BREEAM and BREEAM v7 certifications increasingly shape procurement, linking sustainable building practices to measurable carbon footprint reduction.

The momentum toward environmental product declarations, circular construction strategies, and end‑of‑life reuse in construction is reinforcing market confidence that sustainability can coexist with competitiveness. The industry is transitioning from incremental improvement to structural change, using life cycle thinking in construction to balance resilience, cost, and long‑term carbon footprint. Sustainable building design has become a strategic necessity, ensuring that decarbonising the built environment underpins every stage of a project’s lifecycle performance—from specification to reuse—creating a credible pathway for green construction and a truly circular economy in construction.

Show More

camera_altFeatured Instagram Posts:

Get your opinion heard:

Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do get in touch.

Let's chat!
Avatar

WLC Assistant

Ask me about sustainability

Hi! I'm your Whole Life Carbon assistant. I can help you learn about sustainability, carbon assessment, and navigate our resources. How can I help you today?