Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on Sustainable Space Cooling for Vulnerable Communities

Every year, millions of people die due to the absence of cooling that could help assuage the worst of deadly heat waves. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD, Pune), the number of heatwave days in India has increased from 413 over 1981-1990 to 600 over 2011-2020. In India, it is also estimated that 39,815 people have lost their lives due to heat waves since 1967, the second most lethal disaster after floods.

In 2019, India became one of the first countries in the world to develop a cooling action plan (India Cooling Action Plan- ICAP) to address the urgency and complexity of mainstreaming sustainable cooling practices in multiple sectors. One of the critical focuses of the ICAP is to mainstream affordable passive interventions and sustainable space cooling in buildings to help them provide thermal comfort to their occupants. However, the implementation success of the ICAP recommendations still needs to be improved in many states, including Kerala. It is vital that the subnational governments in the state and cities need guidance on advancing with cooling actions and implementing these ambitious programs.

It is equally essential that these actions and programs address the cooling needs of vulnerable communities. In this context, World Resources Institute India, with support from the Trivandrum Municipal Corporation (TMC), has started a study to assess the impacts of heat stress faced by vulnerable communities. For this, a survey has been done among the select marginalized households in Trivandrum and a few Anganwadis in Kochi. A stakeholder consultation workshop shall be jointly organized by the Trivandrum Municipal Corporation and WRI India to discuss the learnings and findings from this survey-based study. The consultation aims to explore the opportunities, challenges, solutions, and experiences of different public and private stakeholders to address the cooling needs of vulnerable communities.

Speakers

• Arya Rajendran, Mayor, Trivandrum Municipal Corporation
• Binu Francis, Secretary, Trivandrum Municipal Corporation
• Sekhar Kuriakose, Member Secretary, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority*
• P.B. Nooh IAS, Chief Executive Officer, LIFE Mission*
• Deepak Krishnan, Associate Director, Energy Program, WRI India
• Deepak Tewari, Research Fellow, WRI India
• Namrata Ginoya, Senior Program Manager, Energy and Resilience, WRI India
• Dhilon Subramanian, Manager, WRI India
• Shyny Sam, Senior Project Associate, WRI India

• Sakshi Nathani, Assistant manager, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation

  *To be confirmed