Cool Up: Upscaling Sustainable Cooling

Energy demand in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to increase by 50 percent by 2040 as a result of climate change, rapidly growing populations, urbanisation, and higher living standards. Cooling represents a large portion of energy consumption and appliances are often inefficient and rely on refrigerants with a high global warming potential. To tackle these problems and mitigate climate change, the Cool Up program promotes accelerated technological change and early implementation of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreement in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The Cool Up approach is based on four pillars: reducing cooling demand, phasing-down hydrofluorocarbons, replacing and recycling inefficient equipment and refrigerants, and training and awareness raising. The program aims to create catalytic change in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector and ultimately upscale the deployment of sustainable cooling technologies in the market.

Project data

Countries: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye
IKI funding: 19,999,726.00 €
Included preparation phase: 756,576.00 €
Duration: 12/2020 till 01/2027
Status: open
Implementing organisation: Guidehouse Germany GmbH
Political Partner: Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MoEUCC) - Turkey

Ministry of Environment - Jordan

Ministry of Environment - Lebanon

Ministry of Environment MoE - Egypt
Implementing Partner: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management gGmbH

Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mbH (ILK Dresden)

Öko-Recherche GmbH

Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE)

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Online: https://www.coolupprogramme.org/

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State of implementation/results

The Cool Up programme was listed in the implementation plan of Jordan’s Economic Modernisation Vision published in November 2023. It was featured in the sustainable environment and green economy section as the main project supporting the Ministry of Environment to upscale sustainable cooling in Jordan.
Cool Up’s trainings on sustainable cooling solutions and natural refrigerants continued (after successful execution in Türkiye in early 2023) in Egypt and Jordan from October 2023 to January 2024. Nine trainings were completed in total, targeting more than 150 experts from financial institutions and industry. Cool Up’s trainings for various stakeholder groups will continue over the course of 2024.
Cool Up participated in a range of relevant events in 2022 - 2024, where staff of the project was often involved in discussion panels or project organised side events on the topic of natural refrigerants and cooling. Among these events were the New York City Climate Week in September 2023, the ATMOsphere Europe Summit 2023 in Brussel, the Beirut Energy (BEW) in Beirut in September 2023 and the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW) held in Riyadh. You can follow up on all events on the Cool Up website at www.coolupprogramme.org/…
Cool Up attended the 35th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP) from 22-25 October showcasing how the programme supports its partner countries in integrating sustainable cooling into national policies. The Cool Up team participated in one energy efficiency workshop prior to MOP and two side-events on “Navigating a cool path along the NCAP journey: Experiences from planning and modelling to implementation by Cool Up programme, UNDP and Cool Coalition” and “Technician qualification and formal certification in the cooling sector. The pathway from setting up certification schemes to practical implementation” (www.coolupprogramme.org/…).
The Cool Up programme partnered up in the Ozone2CoolZone pavilion of the UNEP Ozone Secretariat of the Montreal Protocol Unit in the Blue Zone at COP28 in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. The pavilion offered a platform to bridge the worlds between ozone and climate by strongly joining forces of 15 partners from the cooling sector and more than 40 side events hosted at the pavilion during the two weeks of COP28 (www.coolupprogramme.org/…).
The call for ideas for the Cool Up demonstration projects opened in January 2023 and closed in March 2023, seeking pioneering projects using technologies that use natural refrigerants or no refrigerants for commercial air conditioning, residential air conditioning, and commercial refrigeration. Cool Up supports the demonstration of sustainable cooling solutions; with selected applicants eligible to receive a range of support, including technical assistance, support in financing the project, and visibility and outreach within the Cool Up scope (www.coolupprogramme.org/…).
Cool Up joined the Cool Coalition in March 2022 to build ties with the large membership base, contribute to their activities that are relevant for Cool Up and vis-a-versa.
The Cool Up programme held its inaugural regional conference, ‘Realising Opportunities for Sustainable Cooling,’ in September 2022 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The conference provided an opportunity to bring together actors and stakeholders from the technical, policy, and finance communities across the Cool Up partner countries for a regional exchange on the uptake of sustainable cooling and natural refrigerants (www.coolupprogramme.org/…).