BASE has been longlisted for a prestigious Ashden Award for its efforts to strengthen the provision of access to cooling solutions.
Ashden is a UK charity that has been supporting transformative climate solutions for 20 years. More than 800 organisations applied for the 2021 Ashden Awards, and BASE is one of just 38 to have made it to the longlisting stage. Award winners will be announced this Autumn, after a rigorous assessment and judging process involving on-the-ground visits and input from sector experts.
Over the past two decades, BASE has designed innovative business models and financing mechanisms that unlock investment in climate solutions. One of our latest initiatives, Cooling as a Service (CaaS), aims to support the transition towards efficient and clean cooling systems with a servitisation or pay-per-use business model. CaaS enables customers to outsource the cooling services rather than invest in cooling equipment, making clean and affordable cooling accessible for all. Accordingly, for the past year, through the CaaS Incubator programme, BASE has been supporting game-changers in the cooling sector to implement CaaS as part of their business operations.
The project has grown across continents and been adapted to the local contexts to ensure long-term benefits. In Nigeria, BASE has collaborated with Koolboks, enabling traders and healthcare facilities to gain access to efficient cooling technologies. Given large volumes of food loss in India due to the lack of low-cost and eco-friendly cold storage facilities, BASE has partnered with Coolcrops to develop and extend vital infrastructure to smallholders at farmgate. As a result, CaaS has helped reduce greenhouse emissions by 49%, saved 20-40% on end-users’ energy bills, increased farmers and traders’ income by nearly 50%, all while minimising wastage of perishables to 5% and supporting healthcare facilities that serve over 1,100 patients.
“In many regions, cooling is a means of survival necessary for creating habitable living conditions, life-saving healthcare, and food security. CaaS tackles existing market barriers and has proven to be a feasible and successful solution that makes the latest cooling appliances accessible and affordable to those in greatest need,” highlights Daniel Magallón, Managing Director of BASE.
Ashden’s CEO, Harriet Lamb, noted, “In the year that governments, climate innovators and activists gather at the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow, these inspiring climate champions demonstrate the many solutions that can be replicated at scale and speed. The Ashden Awards focus on cutting-edge initiatives that are both green and fair – that deliver climate justice, create good jobs, train people in green skills, and cut carbon.”
Through its awards and ongoing networking events, Ashden spotlights and supports climate and energy innovators around the world, including businesses, non-profits and public sector organisations, delivering proven ready-to-scale climate solutions. Check out all the longlisted solutions here.
