Needs Assessment Workshop Towards a National Cooling Action Plan

TERI with support from Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change organized a half day consultation and discussion on shaping discourse around energy efficiency within the HFC phase down decision of the Montreal Protocol.

The Needs Assessment Workshop titled 'Towards a National Cooling Action Plan' was organized on June 29, 2017 at Juniper, India Habitat Center, New Delhi. The workshop aimed at providing needs assessment for the proposed National Cooling Action Plan by deliberating on: 1) the social and economic imperatives for access to cooling as development priority in the country 2) institutional capacity 3) technology needs 4) training and capacity-building needs etc across the spectrum of energy efficiency and refrigeration sectors. This was the first ever workshop towards the Action Plan. The program provided a platform for elaborate discussions and deliberations with key stakeholders on a possible way forward / framework towards a National Cooling Action Plan in India. At the workshop, TERI emphasized the need for smart buildings and the key role when it comes to air conditioning, especially with upcoming government initiatives regarding affordable housing and affordable energy for all, food for all (storage and increasing shelf lives). Representative from BEE highlighted that the projected doubling of urbanisation would mean that markets should be ready with more energy efficiency appliances contributing to the plan to phase out ODSs and reducing emissions. The workshop witnessed wide participation from government, industry, academia and think tanks. At the workshop, Ozone Cell, MoEF&CC made an important note about constituting a committee to prepare a National Cooling Action Plan for India and said that this was the first needs assessment workshop among many more that would be organised in the future.