Net Zero Heroes Spotlights

Cooling

Efficiency improvements would make air conditioners accessible to 123 million more people and refrigerators accessible to 262 million more people

Doubling the efficiency of new air conditioners and refrigerator-freezers by 2030 would make these important cooling appliances more affordable.

CLASP adapted SEforALL’s analysis and estimated that these efficiency improvements would make air conditioners accessible to 123 million more people and refrigerators accessible to 262 million more people. In addition, these efficiency improvements would enable millions of consumers to save money on their electricity bills. Read the spotlight.

Electric Cooking

An estimated 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean cooking fuels.

Universal access to electric cooking is vital in protecting the planet and bolstering equitable outcomes for women and children.

In addition to cutting emissions and deforestation, universal access to electric cooking will have a profound social and economic impact, especially for the women and children that bear the disproportionate burden of fuel collection and food preparation. CLASP quantified the adaptation, resilience and other human development benefits from enabling universal access to electric cooking. Read the spotlight.

Solar Water Pumps

This spotlight on solar water pumps finds if existing irrigation access gaps for smallholder farmers in these countries were closed, 410 Mt of CO2 per year could be avoided and 98 million people would benefit from increased food security.

Solar water pumps can play a critical role in building climate resilience and propelling sustainable development.

This snapshot quantifies the climate, social, and economic benefits that could be realized with modern irrigation access across 11 countries: Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Read the spotlight.

Air Pollution

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 3.2 million people die prematurely each year from illnesses attributable to household air pollution caused by the incomplete combustion of solid fuels and kerosene used for cooking.

Improving appliance efficiency, coupled with electrification and grid decarbonization, will greatly reduce air pollution and benefit human health.

Appliances contribute to air pollution, with grave consequences for human health. The following is an overview of some of the ways appliance usage contributes to air pollution and how the Net Zero Heroes can help reduce it. Read the spotlight.