COP30: Sustainable Cooling

Recommendations

• Prioritise natural refrigerants in public procurement. Solutions based on CO₂, NH₃, hydrocarbons, and water vapor should be required in all tenders.
• Introduce strict limits on GWP and phase out fluorinated refrigerants in line with the EU F-gas Regulation. Strengthen research to develop solutions based on natural refrigerants.
• Establish incentives ensuring the collection and destruction of all fluorinated refrigerants – including PFAS-based substances not currently covered by GWP-based return schemes.
• Modernise standards for flammable refrigerants so that larger charge sizes of hydrocarbons can be used in cooling and heat pump systems for buildings and industry.
• Promote development of high-temperature heat pumps using natural working fluids capable of delivering 100–200 °C process heat, replacing fossil-based heat sources in industry.
• Incentivise technology transfer and financing of sustainable cooling solutions to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs/UMICs) to reduce emissions, energy use, and food waste globally.

Current situation

The demand for cooling is rising rapidly due to climate change and higher temperatures. According to UNEP, sustainable cooling is essential both for climate adaptation and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Montreal Protocol (1989) stopped the use of ozone-depleting CFCs, but their replacements – HFCs – turned out to be powerful greenhouse gases. The Kigali Amendment (2019) commits countries to gradually reduce HFCs, but progress remains too slow. Switching to ozone- and climate-friendly alternatives could avoid more than half a degree of global warming by the end of this century.

A new challenge comes from the replacement substances for HFCs, the so-called HFOs, which have low global warming potential (GWP) but fall under the category of PFAS (perfluorinated substances). They degrade partly or completely into TFA (trifluoroacetic acid), which accumulates in nature as a “forever chemical”. There are currently no restrictions on these substances, but the Five-Country Initiative – in which Norway participates together with Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden – has proposed phasing them out.

Cooling is also extremely energy intensive. In countries with fossil-based power generation, cooling contributes significant indirect emissions. High energy efficiency, heat recovery, and a shift to renewable energy are therefore essential for sustainable cooling.

Norway has made great progress, with a tax system for refrigerants based on CO₂ pricing and GWP, as well as a return scheme that has enabled a complete phase-out of F-gases in the grocery sector. However, challenges remain related to PFAS-based refrigerants and standards that limit the use of natural but flammable refrigerants.

Solution

Transitioning to natural refrigerants (CO₂, NH₃, hydrocarbons, water, and air) provides climate-friendly and health-safe solutions. These substances occur naturally in the biosphere, have no ozone or climate impact, and are well-documented in both Norwegian and international research. Meeting cooling needs sustainably could help more than one billion people adapt to climate change and reduce energy transition costs by an estimated USD 3.5 trillion by 2030, according to UNEP. Many low-income countries (A5) can leapfrog directly from HCFC and HFC substances to sustainable alternatives, avoiding temporary and costly solutions that would soon need to be phased out again.

A key part of the solution is developing technologies for heat pumps and cooling systems that can replace fossil heat sources for space heating and industrial processes. Hydrocarbons (HCs) and other natural refrigerants are highly suitable for this purpose, but current standards limit system capacity, particularly for flammable substances. The development and adaptation of standards allowing larger charge sizes is therefore necessary to unlock this potential. Additionally, systems should be designed to integrate heat recovery, further reducing energy demand and optimising overall efficiency.

Beyond replacing high-GWP gases and cutting direct emissions, natural refrigerants also offer significant energy savings. For supermarkets using CO₂ as a refrigerant, electricity consumption has been shown to drop by around 35 % when all cooling, freezing, heating, and air-conditioning needs are integrated into one system. More than 150,000 such systems are now operating worldwide, and several Norwegian retail chains have successfully phased out F-gases entirely through this approach.

Another example is found in fishing vessels, where fish must be chilled or frozen. In large parts of the global fishing fleet, HCFC-22 is still used – a substance both ozone-depleting and a potent greenhouse gas – while in Norway, natural refrigerants such as NH₃ and CO₂ are predominantly used. Efficient cooling systems can preserve food quality and reduce waste, meeting the needs of a growing global population. In long-distance transport using refrigerated containers (reefer containers), HFCs are still the dominant refrigerants. There is a major improvement potential if efficient systems using CO₂ or hydrocarbons are developed and adopted.