The international “A Cool World: Sustainable Cold-Chain for the Global South” conference being held at the University of Birmingham on 28th – 29th October this year (2025) aims to foster the collaborative thinking and action to rapidly deliver holistic, affordable, sustainable, and resilient cooling and cold-chain (and other energy services through integration) to all, as well as identify supporting research, trade and commercial opportunities.
Dr Ed Hammond, specialist in refrigeration system design and development, asks the question: “Is the cold-chain driven by need or greed?”
Did developed countries really have a greater need for cooling than the Global South?
Given our more temperate climate in the Global North, it is hard to justify that our widespread adoption of cooling was on the basis of greater need. Meanwhile, given the lack of quality in many of our own installations, our poor maintenance record, and our inexcusable levels of greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration systems, I cannot reasonably argue that economic gain hasn’t played a toxic, but powerful, role in its growth here.
Motivations aside, cooling and the cold-chain are critical infrastructure. The developed world, its built environment, food supply, vaccines industry, and digital communications, have all evolved around the availability of cooling. Populations depend on it for nutritional sustenance, healthcare, and connectivity, whilst economic systems depend on it to function and generate income and wealth through commerce and trade. Temperature controlled storage is necessary to spread harvests over time and minimise perishable product losses, and food sourcing in the Global North is now so remote from many population centres that supply would often be impossible without cooling. Add to this our prolific waste of food once we receive it, and perhaps there are lessons for us to learn from the Global South when it comes to sustainable living!
As we begin to appreciate the environmental and social harm of greed-driven cooling, we must transition to a more sustainable model to address the very real needs globally. We must:
- minimise cooling loads through good building and system design.
- transition to natural refrigerants.
- incentivise high-standards and best practice in installation.
- improve maintenance, aim for a preventative rather than reactive approach.
- improve monitoring to maintain efficiency.
What, if anything, can we teach the Global South? I would argue that the best knowledge to share is that which encourages learning from our mistakes, rather than following our example. The last thing we collectively need as a global community is for direct copies of our existing cold-chain infrastructure arriving on their shores. We must first have a close look at ourselves, and our mistakes, in the developed world. And then, support the Global South to do better. It would, clearly, be unreasonable for us to legislate for them to “do as I say, not as I do”. Why should they pay the price to do cooling properly - clean, sustainable and inclusive - when we, for so many decades, have profiteered from cheap, socially unjust, and environmentally irresponsible routes.
As demand for cooling in the Global South grows, there is an opportunity for us to collaborate, cooperate, and collectively make amends. We, in the developed countries, must support them with both knowledge and finance to ensure they are able to adopt a Sustainable Cold-Chain and avoid our mistakes. We must also acknowledge that we too can do better and find the funds and political will to clean up our own cooling. Our planet cannot afford the proliferation of our mistakes.
To join us on 28th/29th October and help accelerate the adoption of clean cooling and cold-chains in the Global South, register via this link and we will look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham in October.