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Ghana: a roadmap for sustainable cooling

In December 2024, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) released a report to provide Ghana’s policymakers, investors and other stakeholders with key data and recommendations to meet Ghana’s cooling needs while reducing emissions.

Cooling and cold chains are vital for sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and industry, playing a central role in global climate agreements and development goals.

In Ghana, demand for cooling is driven by increasing temperatures, growing incomes and expanding urbanisation. According to the Ghana National Cooling Plan, energy demand for the refrigeration and air conditioning sector is projected to rise from 7.04 TWh in 2015 to 20.9 TWh by 2050 under a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario [1].

 

However, according to SEforALL, 12.9 million people among the urban and rural poor lack access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable cooling solutions, making them vulnerable to health, economic, and well-being risks [2]. Power disruptions further exacerbate the problem, leaving this population without cooling appliances during extreme heat. Urban areas such as Accra and Kumasi are experiencing higher temperatures due to the urban heat island effect, requiring passive cooling and nature-based solutions to mitigate heat exposure.

 

Additionally, Ghana loses or wastes 3.2 million tonnes of food each year in the supply chain [2]. Ghana’s agricultural sector presents a significant opportunity to develop cold chain infrastructure for the fruit and vegetable sector, which offers a potential revenue of up to USD 900 million annually. Sustainable cooling technologies could reduce post-harvest losses, improve food safety, and boost income. Reliable cooling is also essential for healthcare, where poor cold chain infrastructure hampers vaccine and medicine storage.

 

As a signatory of the Global Cooling Pledge, the country is committed to address its cooling needs while reducing carbon emissions. This effort is aligned with Ghana’s Energy Transition and Investment Plan (ETIP), which paves the way for the energy sector to meet net-zero emissions by 2060.

 

To enable sustainable cooling for all, SEforAll recommends the following priority areas for policy interventions:

  1. Integrate cooling with national and county energy, climate and development policies.
  2. Strengthen the mandate for the ‘National Cooling Plan Committee’ and governance system.
  3. Enable ‘Cool Cities’ through a call to action, city networks and leading by example.
  4. Increase the adoption of passive and nature-based cooling in buildings and cities.
  5. Accelerate the transition to model Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and participate in their regional harmonisation.
  6. Stimulate market demand for sustainable cooling and drive behavioural change with the government leading by example.
  7. Enhance access to low climate-impact cooling and cold chain for agriculture and healthcare.
  8. Promote sustainable cooling awareness.

 

For more information, the complete report is available on FRIDOC and on SEforAll website.

 

 

Sources

[1] Ghana national cooling plan. https://iifiir.org/en/fridoc/ghana-national-cooling-plan-framework-for-green-and-efficient-cooling-146726

[2] Sustainable Cooling for All in Ghana. https://www.seforall.org/publications/country-brief-sustainable-cooling-for-all-in-ghana