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Bridging the refrigeration gap: How energy-efficient appliances can transform access for 1.12 billion people

According to a study by CLASP, doubling the energy efficiency of air conditioners and refrigerators by 2030 could reduce lifecycle costs by 60%, expanding access to an additional 320 million and 90 million people, respectively, by 2050.

Developing countries account for 40% of the global market for stationary and mobile air conditioning, and residential and non-residential refrigeration applications [1]. By 2050, the market for sustainable refrigeration in developing countries is set to more than double [1].

 

Yet over 1.12 billion people globally — primarily among the rural and urban poor — currently face immediate risks due to a lack of access to refrigeration [2], which is crucial for reducing food loss and ensuring food availability, as well as to face health risks associated with rising temperatures and recurrent heat waves.

 

The Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Programme (CLASP) modelled the impact of increased energy efficiency of refrigeration technologies on access in India, Indonesia, and Nigeria by 2050 [3].

 

This study assumes that lifecycle cost, i.e. the cost required to purchase and operate a product over its lifetime, is a key driver of adoption, and that long-term trends in adoption are driven by the ratio of lifecycle cost to income.

 

In the three countries studied, CLASP found that doubling the energy efficiency of fans, refrigerators, and room air conditioners globally by 2030 could unlock the following benefits by 2050:

  • Reduce the total cost of ownership by 60% for room air conditioners and refrigerators and 58% for fans
  • Deliver USD 105 billion in annual consumer savings through reduce purchase and running costs in 2050
  • Expand access to an additional 320 million people for air conditioners, 100 million people for refrigerators, and 90 million people for fans. This represents 20 percent of the total population for India, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
  • Avoid more than 420,000 premature heat-related deaths
  • Cut down by half the total energy consumed by these appliances.

 

To achieve these benefits, CLASP recommends that governments and other stakeholders:

  • Increase research and development funding, financing and financial incentives, bulk procurement schemes, awards, and informational tools to drive market uptake of efficient appliances
  • Implement innovative financing schemes to reduce upfront costs
  • Reduce tariffs to make efficient appliances more affordable locally
  • Expand decentralised energy solutions, like solar home systems and mini-grids to help rural, low-income communities access energy services more readily

 

For more information, the complete study is available on the CLASP website  and on FRIDOC.

 

 

Sources

[1] International Finance Corporation (IFC), & Cool Coalition. (2024). Cooler Finance. Mobilizing Investment for the Developing World’s Sustainable Cooling Needs. https://www.ifc.org/en/insights-reports/2024/mobilizing-investment-for-the-developing-world-s-sustainable-cooling-needs

[2] Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). (2023). Chilling Prospects: Global Access to Cooling Gaps 2023. Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). https://www.seforall.org/ chilling-prospects-access-to-cooling-gaps-2023

[3] Lauren Boucher, Yasemin Erboy Ruff, Ari Reeves, Robert Van Buskirk. CLASP 2025. Bridging the Cooling Gap: Energy Efficiency as a Driver for Appliance Access. https://www.clasp.ngo/research/all/bridging-the-cooling-gap/