Cooling Rights in Global South

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper3- Environment

Introduction

Cooling is no longer a lifestyle choice; it is a public-health and adaptation right. Studies indicate ~489,000 heat-related deaths each year (2000–2019), with nearly half in Asia—evidence that extreme heat already imposes mass mortality in the Global South. Yet access is deeply unequal across and within countries, and policy still frames cooling mainly as an energy-efficiency issue rather than a development right. Cooling Rights in Global South.

The Imperative of Cooling

1. Public health & survival: Extreme heat already claims lives and overwhelms health systems. Reliable electricity is a prerequisite for safe neonatal care, emergency rooms, and cold chains—yet close to 1 billion people are served by facilities with unreliable or no power, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
   2. Adaptation Priority: Europe has rapidly expanded AC ownership following heatwaves, while most cities in Asia and Africa still struggle without public cooling infrastructure despite regularly facing 40°C+ summers. This reflects a troubling asymmetry: for the North, cooling is “adaptation”; for the South, it is treated as an “emissions liability.”
2. Workforce Safety: In India, 80% of workers are in agriculture, construction, or street vending—sectors directly exposed to heat. Cooling, shading, and hydration facilities are therefore frontline labour rights, not comforts.

Inequities in Cooling Access

1. Within India: In 2021, only 13% of urban and 1% of rural households owned ACs. The richest 10% owned 72% of all units, showing deep socio-economic divides.
2. Global Divide: AC penetration is very high in the U.S. and Japan (≈90%) and single-digit in much of Sub-Saharan Africa.
3. Infrastructure Gaps: Nearly 1 billion people in low- and middle-income countries are served by health facilities with unreliable or no electricity, limiting even basic cooling

Consequences of Neglecting Cooling Rights

1. Workforce productivity losses: By 2030, heat stress could cut more than 2% of global working hours—about 80 million full-time jobs—with South Asia among the hardest-hit regions. Outdoor and informal workers face the steepest risks.
2. Health Emergencies: Countries like Kenya and Burkina Faso already report sharp spikes in cardiovascular and renal cases during heatwaves. Without reliable cooling, mortality will rise
   3. Grid and planning risks: Cooling demand is becoming one of the most variable daily loads; unmanaged growth will stress power systems and amplify outages and losses. (IEA underscores the need to double AC efficiency to contain demand.)
   4. Health-system strain: Underpowered facilities cannot safely deliver heat-sensitive services—risking higher mortality and lost health gains—unless electricity reliability and cooling access improve.

Policy & Governance Landscape

India’s initiatives:

1. India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)

(i) reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38,

(ii) reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38,

(iii) Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38,

(iv)  recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under national S&T Programme,

(v) training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23, synergizing with Skill India Mission.

2. Kigali Amendment (2021): India committed to phasing down HFCs by 2047.
3. BEE measures: star-labelling and a 24 °C default setting advisory/requirement to reduce consumption.
4. Heat Action Plans (HAPs): Cities like Ahmedabad pioneered HAPs with cooling centres, early warnings, and public awareness, but many remain underfunded and weakly enforced.

Global initiatives:

1. Global Cooling Pledge (COP28): collective goal to cut cooling-related emissions 68% by 2050, boost access to sustainable cooling by 2030, and double AC efficiency (≈+50%)—linking equity, access, and efficiency.
2. Health-facility electrification push: WHO/World Bank call for targeted investments to end the power deficit in care facilities.

Way Forward

1. Targeted access: Provide direct vouchers/DBT for efficient fans/ACs to low-income, rural, and heat-hotspot households; priority lists for outdoor workers (construction, farm, vending), elderly, children, and persons with comorbidities.
2. Public cooling network: Establish 24×7 community cooling centres at schools, transit hubs, PHCs/CHCs; ensure drinking water, shaded seating, basic first-aid, and emergency transport. Also map centres to heat-index hotspots.
3. Power health facilities: Electrify all primary/secondary facilities with grid + rooftop solar + batteries; Need to monitor uptime and cold-chain reliability on public dashboards.
4. Build cool by default: Mandate cool roofs, ventilation, reflective surfaces, tree canopies, and shaded workspaces in public housing, schools, anganwadis, markets. Integrate thermal comfort metrics into building codes and urban by laws.
5. Tighten standards & pricing: Raise MEPS/star labels; retain 24 °C default/20–28 °C band
6. Finance & governance: Use concessional CSR funds for poor-household access and facility upgrades. Mandate Heat Action Plans through law, ensure dedicated budgets for their implementation, and specify clear responsibilities for state and local authorities.

Question for practice:

Discuss the inequities in access to cooling in the Global South and explain why treating cooling as a development right is essential for climate justice.

Source: The Hindu