EIEE Seminar-Webinar

Title: Systemic Cooling Poverty: A Conceptual Framework and an Assessment in 29 Countries in the Global South

Speakers: Giacomo Falchetta, ECIP and Enrica De Cian, ECIP

Moderator: Anna Pirani

Abstract: Systemic Cooling Poverty is defined as a situation of multidimensional deprivation that prevents an individual from achieving thermal comfort and adapting to hot temperatures. Deprivation can arise from exposure to specific climatic conditions, lack of infrastructure and assets, the existence of social and thermal inequalities, health conditions, education and work standards. Here we introduce the SCP framework (Mazzone et al. 2023) and we provide a quantitative assessment in the Global South, covering 29 countries. We assemble a wide range of data sources from household surveys (n = 1,155,106 households), historical climate records, large geospatial datasets, and satellite data to represent the five core dimensions of SCP: (i) climate, (ii) infrastructure and assets, (iii) social and thermal inequalities, (iv) health, and (v) education and labor standards.  We are able to identify areas with high concentrations of households facing severe SCP, identify the main drivers of observed SCP, and highlight key interventions to reduce deprivation and increase adaptive capacity. The systemic representation of the different dimensions of heat adaptation deprivation allows to significantly advance the understanding of existing and growing heat-related risks, also due to climate change and socio-demographic change.

 

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