Context

As heatwaves become more frequent and intense, access to sustainable cooling is becoming an increasingly important climate adaptation and development challenge. At the same time, global cooling demand is expected to grow rapidly over the coming decades, placing increasing pressure on electricity systems and potentially driving higher greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainable cooling, more than replacing or installing cooling equipment, requires an integrated approach that combines energy-efficient technologies, low-climate-impact refrigerants, renewable energy where appropriate, smart monitoring and controls, reliable operation and maintenance, and sustainable financing and business models.

Many of the technologies needed to achieve this transition already exist. A key challenge is bringing them together into technically and financially viable solutions that can perform under real operating conditions, demonstrate measurable benefits, and ultimately be replicated and scaled.

The UNEP Cool Coalition has created EPIC (Enabling Pledge Implementation for Cooling) Solutions as a Technical Assistance Facility that supports Global Cooling Pledge signatories in advancing their commitments.

To bring real projects to life and further support the achievement of these objectives, EPIC Deploy was launched by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), opening a funding window for sustainable cooling pilots in 5 countries.

The initiative

EPIC Deploy supports the deployment of sustainable, energy-efficient and climate-resilient cooling solutions through technical and financial support. The call for proposals was launched in July 2026 and is open until the end of October to receive applications for projects. Candidates can learn more and apply on the initiative’s official website.

Through its first Open Call for Proposals, EPIC Deploy supports projects in Brazil, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia across two priority areas: 

• Sustainable cooling in the tertiary sector, including hospitals, universities, schools and public facilities; and
• Sustainable cooling in industry and the cold chain, including agri-food value chains, logistics platforms and industrial refrigeration.

Selected pilots will implement an integrated approach combining modern technologies with system-wide integration, sustainable financing and business models, and robust public-private partnerships. Projects will further address legal and regulatory frameworks while generating the evidence and knowledge base necessary for successful replication.

BASE provides technical and grant-management support to UNEP for the design and implementation of the funding window. It will support the full funding cycle, from the design and management of the Call for Proposals and applicant support, through proposal evaluation and due diligence, to grant contracting and the subsequent monitoring and implementation of selected projects.

Impact

Overall, the Initiative aims to:

• Support the development and implementation of pilot projects in high-potential contexts to promote the adoption of innovative, low-environmental-impact solutions for sustainable cooling.
• Strengthen cooperation among public institutions, the private sector, the scientific community, and international partners.
• Facilitate access to investment opportunities, financing instruments, and public-private partnerships, contributing to the improvement of cooling infrastructure efficiency, with particular emphasis on the cold chain, urban cooling systems, and applications across productive sectors.

Through the Call for Proposals, pilots will be supported with budget ranging from USD 200,000 to 1.0 million per project, with the aim of advancing reliable and integrated solutions using sufficiently mature technologies, rather than research or laboratory-scale demonstrations.