Right to Cooling in the Global South – Explained

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• The government’s proposal to regulate air conditioner efficiency has reignited debate on the Right to Cooling as a public health and climate justice imperative in India and the Global South.

Introduction

• The intensifying heatwaves across the Global South, including India, have turned cooling into an essential public health safeguard rather than a luxury. 
• In June 2025, the Government of India proposed regulations requiring all new air conditioners to function within a temperature range of 20°C to 28°C, with 24°C as the default setting. 
• While the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) projects that such a move could save 20 billion units of electricity annually and cut emissions by 16 million tonnes, the debate extends far beyond efficiency. 
• It raises urgent questions of equity, climate justice, and the universal right to cooling.

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Access to Cooling in India and the Global South

• Cooling access in India remains severely inadequate. In 2021, only 13% of urban households and 1% of rural households owned air conditioners, with overall national penetration at around 5%. 
• The disparity is stark: Delhi reports 32% household ownership, while low-income states such as Bihar and Odisha report just 1%, despite recording extreme heat conditions.
• Globally, the contrast is sharper. Nearly 90% of households in the U.S. and Japan own an air conditioner, compared to 22% in Latin America and just 6% in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Per capita electricity consumption for cooling in the U.S. is 28 times higher than in India. 
• Despite these inequities, the discourse on cooling in the South is often framed as a climate burden, while in the North it is justified as a health necessity.

Health and Productivity Implications

• Extreme heat is no longer just a climate phenomenon but a direct public health hazard. 
• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), heat exposure caused 489,000 global deaths between 2000 and 2019, with India recording over 20,000. 
• The lack of reliable electricity, inadequate thermally secure housing, and under-equipped public health infrastructure amplify vulnerabilities.
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that over 70% of the global workforce was exposed to excessive heat in 2020, causing 23 million occupational injuries and nearly 19,000 deaths. 
• In India, where 80% of workers are in agriculture, construction, or street vending, the absence of heat-resilient workspaces threatens both health and livelihoods.

Policy Interventions and Heat Action Plans

• Several Indian states and cities have initiated heat action plans, including early warning systems, public shelters, and awareness drives. 
• However, weak institutional capacity, limited funding, and poor legal backing have restricted their effectiveness. Millions remain vulnerable to heat-related illnesses, productivity losses, and income insecurity.
• The government’s regulatory approach to air conditioner efficiency is commendable for energy savings, but risks being symbolic if not paired with stronger investments in affordable cooling access for the vulnerable.

Climate Justice and the Right to Cooling

• Developed countries historically invested heavily in heating systems, often backed by subsidies and unchecked emissions. 
• Today, developing nations like India face a similar need for cooling but with fewer resources and under mounting international pressure to decarbonise.
• Global emissions from cooling stand at one billion tonnes annually, far lower than heating-related emissions, yet the cooling demand is projected to triple by 2050, with India’s share growing eightfold. 
• For the Global South, the challenge is twofold: achieving efficient cooling while ensuring universal access.
• Thus, cooling must be recognised not merely as a mitigation liability but as a development right tied to health, equity, and livelihood security. 
• Bridging the gap requires financial and technological support from developed nations, large-scale public investment, and integration of cooling into climate adaptation strategies.

Source: TH