John Kerry pledges to slash emissions from AC units, refrigerators to fight climate change

John Kerry, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate — having already pledged to close down all United States coal power plants — has committed to slashing the nation’s emissions from cooling-related products in the battle against man-made global warming.  

Kerry made his latest announcement at the annual United Nations climate change summit, known as COP28, where the U.S. allied with more than 60 other nations in joining the Global Cooling Pledge, the world's first collective focus on climate-warming emissions from cooling equipment and appliances. 

The pledge commits countries to reduce their cooling-related emissions by at least 68% by 2050 compared to 2022 levels, along with a suite of other targets including establishing minimum energy performance standards by 2030.

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The pledge targets emissions from cooling-related appliances such as air conditioning units and refrigerators.

"We want to lay out a pathway to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors but increase access to sustainable cooling," Kerry told COP28.

Emissions from both the refrigerants and the energy used in cooling now account for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and are expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures continue to rise, according to the Clean Cooling Collaborative non-profit group.  

Kerry and others at the conference argue that as the planet warms, air-conditioner usage will ramp up, and therefore, so will emissions. Installed capacity is set to triple by mid-century, driven by climbing temperatures, growing populations and rising incomes, according to research released by the United Nations.

"People will buy a very cheap air conditioner produced somewhere in Asia for 100 bucks and plug it in," said Jürgen Fischer, president of climate solutions at Danish multinational Danfoss which specializes in heating and cooling. 

"That will load the energy system a lot, and there will be a collapse. I don't think it's a good idea to allow these individual plug-ins anymore," he said.

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Numerous heat records were broken earlier this year. For instance, July set an all-time heat record for the city of Las Vegas, with more than 17 days reaching at least 110 degrees. 

Kerry’s announcement is the latest in a flurry of promises attendees at the conference made over the last few days as a way of tackling climate change. The consensus emanating from the conference is that drastic and urgent action is required to reduce emissions to keep temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. Skeptics point to natural forces like the sun as being the main driving forces behind climate change.

For instance, last week at COP28, Kerry committed the United States to not building any new coal plants and phasing out existing plants.

Kerry also announced a joint commitment with Romania to triple nuclear energy and reduce methane emissions to achieve Net Zero, which means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible.

Meanwhile, in New York City earlier this year, officials proposed outlawing coal and wood-fired ovens to reduce carbon emissions by 75%.

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Jason Isaac, founder of the American Energy Institute, said that the Biden administration's green agenda has already driven up prices and increased energy poverty in the U.S.

"Every country that is decreasing its use of coal is increasing its [energy] cost and that’s hurting people," Isaac told Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto.

"Last year in the United States, five million people had their utilities disconnected because their costs are increasing astronomically."

Reuters contributed to this report.