Strengthening climate change mitigation through energy-efficient and resilient buildings

The PEEB Cool initiative intends to boost sustainable buildings in 11 hot climate countries, with the IKI supporting the programme.

Today, buildings and construction account for around 37 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. This percentage will increase if it remains unaddressed: amongst other uses, energy demand for interior cooling is expected to triple by 2050. 

PEEB Cool is a new initiative of the global Programme for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB), which is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). 

PEEB Cool will work with partner countries to align their building sector with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Thematic and geographical expansion of the programme

In March 2024, PEEB Cool was launched at the inaugural Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris. The initiative’s total budget of 230.5 million euros includes a large co-financing sum from the Green Climate Fund that will enable a thematic and geographic expansion of the partnership’s tried-and-tested approach. 

The involved German and French implementing agencies will start implementation with partner countries Albania, Argentina, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia to promote a “whole life-carbon” approach to sustainability in buildings. 

The Programme for Energy Efficiency in Buildings is transforming the buildings and construction sector through financing, policy support and capacity building with the vision of achieving a low-emissions and climate-resilient built environment. PEEB was initiated in 2016 at COP22 by Germany and France and it is catalysed by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC).

Ensuring healthy and thermally comfortable healthcare environments is a challenge for countries like Tunisia, where healthcare buildings are responsible for 5% of energy consumption. This figure is bound to increase as rising temperatures across the Mediterranean region increase cooling demands. PEEB supported the country’s ministry of health in making hospitals more energy efficient. Finance from the French Development Bank AFD enabled two hospital projects to incorporate high energy-efficiency standards.

As Tunisia is planning to construct and refurbish up to 11 further hospitals, PEEB supported the government and building sector professionals with capacity-building via training courses and by developing a technical guide for energy efficiency in healthcare buildings.