Publication - Cooling for All and Gender: Towards Inclusive, Sustainable Cooling Solutions

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Title

Cooling for All and Gender: Towards Inclusive, Sustainable Cooling Solutions

Publisher

SEforALL

Author

SEforALL

Published in

March 2021

Abstract

Like access to electricity or clean cooking, access to sustainable cooling is an energy service that is essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) in areas that experience high temperatures. Over 1 billion people in 54 high-impact countries remain at high risk from a lack of access to cooling services that support health and livelihoods and a further 2.2 billion are at risk to have inefficient cooling. By providing protection from a heatwave, refrigeration for nutritious food, or a cold chain for a COVID-19 vaccine, access to cooling is an issue of equity that can support the delivery of the entire SDG 2030 agenda.

Just as women and girls face challenges gaining access to education, healthcare and formal employment, their ability to access and benefit from the range of services that cooling provides is also limited. A lack of access to electricity and cooling appliances can impact women differently than men and can exacerbate existing gender inequalities.

This knowledge brief is the first such analysis of the gender-based impacts of a lack of access to cooling.

It examines the gender-related challenges that should be considered, analysed and addressed to ensure cooling interventions and finance acknowledge gender-differentiated impacts and adapt to maximize equitable access. This brief offers a series of recommended steps to address these challenges while pursuing universal sustainable cooling and gender equality. Governments, development finance institutions and nongovernmental organizations should raise awareness regarding the gender-based impacts of a lack of access to cooling, bolster policies for protections, drive research to understand gender disparities and increase investments to gender-transformative solutions that also deliver sustainable cooling.

URL

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• Energy Access

• Other