On November 12th and 13th, the Global Cooling Prize coalition hosted the first-of-its-kind cooling solutions oriented summit—Global Cooling Innovation Summit in New Delhi, India. The summit most prominently featured the launch of the Global Cooling Prize and panel discussions on the important topics of innovations in cooling, investment, and scaling of breakthrough technologies, and policy support for cooling innovations of the future.

Highlights of the event were:

The launch of the Global Cooling Prize by Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister of Science and Technology, Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Government of India launched the prize portal on November 12 and thanked the Global Cooling Prize Coalition for promoting innovation in this space in his inaugural address.

Powerful remarks by global thought leaders and innovators

At the Inaugural Session, the most senior representatives from key ministries in the Government of India spoke about the cooling challenge and the need for innovation. The Indian ministries represented at the summit were the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Power. John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Officer, Government of UK and Mission Innovation also spoke during the Inaugural Session. Also on the dais was the Indian Prime Minister’s Chief Scientific Advisor, who delivered special remarks supporting the prize. Richard Branson, an official Global Ambassador of the prize, recorded a personal video message calling on all innovators to enter the prize.

The release of a groundbreaking report on solving the global cooling challenge

RMI released a report titled “Solving the Global Cooling Challenge”, which received a fantastic response and continues to generate interest globally. The report stresses the need for a breakthrough cooling solution across the world – one that has five-times less climate impact (5X solution), which would prevent up to 100 gigatons of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2050 and help mitigate up to 0.5°C in global warming by the end of the century. RMI also released a dossier titled “Why India and the world needs a breakthrough in comfort cooling technology,” focusing specifically on the Indian market.

Affirmation of the Prize’s goals by industry experts and potential prize applicants

The first day of the Global Cooling Innovation Summit was attended by over 180 individuals from around the world. These attendees represented various intergovernmental and national government entities such as Mission Innovation, Government of India, United Nations Development Program, World Bank, USAID, Oakridge National Laboratory, and The United States Embassy, as well as prominent universities and not-for-profits such as Sustainable Energy for All, The Climate Group, World Wildlife Fund, The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Energy and Resources Institute, the University of Birmingham, and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation. Many of these leading experts voiced their support for the Global Cooling Prize as speakers or panelists during the event. Additionally, several potential prize applicants attended, including incumbents, start-ups, and prominent industry associations, most of whom expressed their interest to enter the prize.

The second day of the event provided all attendees an opportunity to learn all the details of the prize and ask their questions to prize organizers as well as other industry experts. The day consisted of a presentation and Q&A on the prize criteria, roundtable discussions on the support prize participants require to be successful, and a Pitch clinic with experts in which 16 experts held a total of 47 individual sessions with potential prize participants.

Widespread media coverage and outreach globally

The event and the Global Cooling Prize received excellent media coverage and noteworthy articles in some of the most premier news outlets around the world such as CNN, NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Financial Times, Cooling Post, Economic Times, Inside Climate News, The Wire and Times of India. 

The Prize’s Outreach Partners which include UN Environment, SEforAll, Virgin Unite, NRDC, The Climate Group, U4E, World Economic Forum, ASHRAE, ISHRAE, AIRAH, CLASP, German Energy Agency, ECEEE, Social Alpha, TERI, ASE, IGBC, AHRI, and AEA helped spread the word through their networks, amplifying global outreach for this important initiative.

Global interest and participation in the prize

In the two weeks following the event, more than 550 teams registered to participate in the prize and over 60 teams submitted their initial proposals. The teams that registered come from more than 20 countries across six continents, demonstrating a truly global participation.