Category Archives: Press Release

Sponsors Announce Agenda for the 2024 World Cold Chain Symposium

Washington, DC October 11, 2024 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) OzonAction today announced speakers for the 2024 World Cold Chain Symposium on October 26, 2024. The Symposium, which is themed, “Building a Sustainable Cold Chain” will take place beginning at 1:00 PM local time in Bangkok, Thailand. The program will be broken into four sessions, emphasizing the end-to-end development of a sustainable cold chain, including: data gathering and modeling, technology innovation, training and servicing, and finance mechanisms.

WCCS sponsors are very pleased to announce the agenda and invited speakers for this event, who will be sharing their knowledge and experiences of both developing and growing sustainable cold chain development with participants. The welcoming speaker is Meg Seki, Ozone Secretariat for the United Nations Environment Programme. Opening remarks will also be provided by Ed Dryden, President of Refrigeration for Carrier Corporation. Other speakers invited include:

• Session 1: The Impact and Benefits of the Cold Chain
  • Rajan Rajendran, Co-Chair of RTOC, TEAP
  • Nihar Shah, Presidential Director, Global Cooling Efficiency Program, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
  • Marco Duran, Director of Policy and Global Partnerships Department, IIR
  • Aaron Friedman-Heiman, University of Michigan
  • Shelie Miller, Professor at the University of Michigan
• Session 2: Technology for Cold Chains – Connecting the Dots
  • Greg Brooker, ANZ Refrigerant Specialist, ACTROL
  • Andrea Voigt, Vice President, Global Public Affairs, Sustainability & Communications, Danfoss
  • Helen Walter-Terrinoni, Director, Global Climate Policy, Trane Technologies
  • Devendra Gupta, CEO and Founder, Ecozen Solutions
• Session 3: Training, Servicing and Capacity Building Issues – Challenges and Opportunities
  • Jeanne de Crepy, Project Manager, Supply Chain, UN World Food Program
  • Richard Scotney, Global Energy Efficiency Lead, World Wildlife Fund
  • Jim Curlin, Head, UNEP OzonAction
  • Pramod Singh, Senior Director, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy
• Session 4: Momentum in Financing Opportunities and Mechanisms
  • Tina Birmpili, Chief Officer, Multilateral Fund
  • Jonathan Naimon, Managing Partner, Sustana Cooling Partners
  • Rajchanee Chanawatr, Principal Investment Officer, IFC

Information and Registration can be found at the Symposium website: https://wccs.performedia.com/

UNEP is an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. OzonAction’s goal is to enable developing countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology.

United Nations and Industry Team to Announce 2024 World Cold Chain Symposium: “Building a Sustainable Cold Chain”

Washington, DC October 3, 2024 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction are convening for the fourth annual World Cold Chain Symposium on Oct. 26, 2024, sponsored by Carrier Global Corporation. The program will be held at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand, ahead of the 36^th Montreal Protocol Meeting of the Parties. The theme for this year’s event is Building a Sustainable Cold Chain, to highlight the different facets that coalesce to create a sustainable cold chain from start to finish. Participants and speakers will include diverse high-level expert representatives from the private sector, government, international organizations, academia and non-profit organizations. A recording of the session will be available after the event.

This year’s Symposium will highlight the end-to-end development of a sustainable cold chain, including: data gathering and modeling to establish the best practices for an entity’s local and regional needs, the development of financing mechanisms for implementation, human capacity building to ensure the longevity of both technology and processes, and the technology needed at all levels. This holistic approach, which will examine from all sides the necessary components for the development of a sustainable cold chain, takes the high-level concepts from previous Symposiums and combines them into a realistic discussion on the concrete key actions needed to begin the building of a cold chain.

The sessions comprising the Symposium include:

1. The Impact and Benefits of the Cold Chain
2. Technology for Cold Chains – Connecting the Dots
3. Training and Servicing Issues – Challenges and Opportunities
4. Momentum in Financing Opportunities and Mechanisms

As cooling and cold chains gain more recognition internationally, the examination of the different pieces of the puzzle coming together to build sustainable cold chains is key to its expansion. The Symposium is one of several important international events that explore all the areas of importance in cooling and cold chain implementation, including notably this year’s Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund Executive Committee Meetings, the Montreal Protocol Open-Ended Working Group Meeting, and the upcoming 36^th Montreal Protocol Meeting of the Parties (MOP36), 29^th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29), and others. Last year, the dialogue progressed through the United Nations Food Systems Summit, MOP35, and COP28.  The Symposium and its sponsors plan continue the dialogue and provide more context to the challenges and opportunities of developing a sustainable cold chain ahead of the upcoming events.  

“The expansion of sustainable cold chain activities as a means of reducing food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions has been gaining momentum internationally, and as more focus is placed on the topic, more opportunities arise,” said Kevin Fay, Executive Director of the Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC). “GFCCC and our co-sponsors are excited to highlight these activities through the 2024 World Cold Chain Symposium as the world moves to promote an environmentally sustainable and economically feasible cold chain expansion.”

For event information, including registration for the program and reception, please visit wccs.performedia.com or email dobson@foodcoldchain.org.

UNEP is an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. OzonAction’s goal is to enable developing countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology. 

World Cold Chain Symposium Convened Global Leaders, Created Dialogue on Food Loss and Waste

Washington, DC – Paris, France July 27, 2022 – The organizers Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction, the sponsor Carrier, and supporters Ozone Secretariat and the Cool Coalition, thank the speakers and audience members for their enthusiastic interest at the 2022 World Cold Chain Symposium, held on July 10th at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The Symposium, which included a diverse set of speakers from the private sector, government, international organizations, academia and non-profits, brought together a group representing more than 90 countries to share perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in the expansion of the sustainable food cold chain. Today, the video recording of the Symposium is available for the public to view.

The Symposium focused on the theme of “Promoting the Sustainable Food Cold Chain: Pursuing the Action Agenda” and showcased speakers from UNEP (OzonAction and the Cool Coalition), the Ozone Secretariat, the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, U.S. Department of State, National Ozone Units and governments of India and Vietnam, industry representatives from the Global Food Cold Chain Council, the University of Birmingham and the World Refrigeration Day Secretariat. Speakers shared details of innovative cold chain initiatives in Somalia, the Philippines, India, Rwanda, and Vietnam. A session on financing options for the food cold chain featured the World Bank, the Multilateral Fund and the Green Climate Fund. The full speaker list is available on the Symposium website linked above.

The Symposium highlighted important themes that will be discussed at venues including those related to the Montreal Protocol and the Climate Conference of the Parties in 2022 and 2023. The dialogue included:

• The importance of cold chain data collection and analysis and tools and services available to developing countries.
• Encouragement of financial support for cold chain expansion projects consistent with the Rome Declaration on the Contribution of the Montreal Protocol to Food Loss Reduction through Sustainable Cold Chain Development
• Development of partner projects on agriculture and cold chain linkages
• Promote development and implementation of financial mechanisms under the Green Climate Fund, World Bank, other UN implementing agencies, and private sector interests

“The global community has embraced the need for and environmental and economic benefits of expansion of a sustainable cold chain,” said Kevin Fay, Executive Director of the Global Food Cold Chain Council. “This event showcases this building momentum on activities that will improve health, help the environment by reducing food loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste fresh water, and creating additional food and economic security.”

James Curlin, Head of UNEP OzonAction, said “The views expressed during the symposium demonstrate that a wide constellation of organizations, countries, and financial mechanisms consider an expanded and sustainable cold chain to be a vital common objective. The innovative initiatives described during the event were inspirational and gave us food for thought about the next steps we can take either as individuals or in collaboration. Opportunities to advance the sustainable cold chain abound, and need to be acted upon.”

WCCS Press Release – 2022 Success

United Nations and Industry Announce New Cooperating Sponsors for the World Cold Chain Symposium (WCCS)

Washington, DC – September 1, 2021 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction are hosting a virtual World Cold Chain Symposium on Sept. 14, 2021, sponsored by Carrier Global Corporation. Participating sponsors for the event include Bitzer SE, Danfoss, Emerson, and Lennox. GFCCC and UNEP are now pleased to announce the World Cold Chain Symposium’s Cooperating Sponsors, including:

This announcement is important, and shows the widespread and growing support of the WCCS, as a significant effort to bring more industry experts and climate change specialists together recognize and pursue the need for creating sustainable and data-driven cold chains.

This virtual World Cold Chain Symposium is built around the theme of “Promoting Sustainable Cold Chain: From Data to Action,” to support the four pillars creating the GFCCC framework agenda. The WCCS is specifically planned to augment the discussion around advancing the cold chain agenda to achieve sustainability goals and eventually the development of cold chain expansion projects. The GFCCC Symposium coincides with other international policy events, including with UNEP OzonAction, which has already begun working towards these goals through the launch of its Cold Chain Database and Modeling initiative.  This initiative was developed to assist developing countries in identifying their cold chain baselines in order to support the expansion of sustainable cold chain in their countries, reduce food loss and waste, and meet environmental objectives. The WCCS will highlight the steps already made, like the Database, but focus primarily on what the international community can do next for sustainable cold chains.

Information and Registration can be found at the Symposium website: wccs.foodcoldchain.org

UNEP is an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. OzonAction’s goal is to enable developing countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology.

WCCS Press Release – Cooperating Sponsors

Sponsors Announce Program for the Virtual World Cold Chain Symposium

Washington, DC August 30, 2021 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) OzonAction today announced speakers for their virtual World Cold Chain Symposium on Sept. 14, 2021. The Symposium, which is themed, “Promoting Sustainable Cold Chain: From Data to Action” will take place beginning at 9 AM EST. The program will be broken into two sessions, the first focused on the Global Outlook for Building a Sustainable Cold Chain, and the second highlighting Sustainable Cold Chain Technology and Initiatives.

WCCS sponsors are very pleased to announce these experts who will be participating and sharing their knowledge, as these speakers are at the very forefront of innovation working towards a sustainable cold chain:

Information and Registration can be found at the Symposium website: wccs.foodcoldchain.org

UNEP is an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. OzonAction’s goal is to enable developing countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology.

WCCS Press Release – Speakers

United Nations and Industry Team to Announce World Cold Chain Symposium: “Promoting Sustainable Cold Chain: From Data to Action”

Washington, DC August 12, 2021 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction are convening for a virtual World Cold Chain Symposium on Sept. 14, 2021, sponsored by Carrier Global Corporation. The session “Promoting Sustainable Cold Chain: From Data to Action” will focus on: international policies and technology directions related to the sustainable cold chain solutions and their contribution to a global environmental and sustainable development agenda and discussing several ongoing industries supported initiatives and programs aimed at tackling the cold chain program in terms of data and tech assessment as well as technology selection and best practices.  Participants will include high-level expert representatives from government, industry, the international community and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are to participate.

There is growing recognition of the need for more attention and actions on sustainable cold chains for food security public health, environmental, and economic reasons. The symposium is one of a number of important international events that will explore the issue, including notably the upcoming United Nations Food System Summit in September, the next meetings of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in October, and 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in October-November.

The symposium will highlight many efforts occurring within UNEP on this subject, including the Joint GFCCC/UNEP OzonAction database and modelling program, the work of the UNEP Cool Coalition, actions that support the Rome Declaration on the Contribution of the Montreal Protocol to Food Loss Reduction through Sustainable Cold Chain Development, and efforts to develop appropriate financial mechanisms for national capacity building and initiation of technology projects.

Information and Registration can be found at the Symposium website: wccs.foodcoldchain.org

“Great momentum is being created with national and international initiatives to reduce food loss and waste,” said Jim Curlin, Head of UNEP OzonAction, “Our goal is to encourage the adoption of cold chain technology that meets societal needs in an environmentally sustainable way, and thereby contributes to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals.”

The GFCCC and OzonAction recently announced the launch of the Cold Chain Database and Modeling initiative. The initiative was developed to assist developing countries in identifying their cold chain baselines in order to support the expansion of sustainable cold chain in their countries , reduce food loss and waste, and meet environmental objectives.  The launch comes in advance of the United Nations Food Security Summit, and is key to the framework for supporting expansion of a sustainable cold chain on a global basis.

“The GFCCC/UNEP OzonAction Cold Chain Database and Modeling initiative is just an important step in a global approach to reduce food loss and waste, increase food security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through expansion of a sustainable cold chain,” said GFCCC Executive Director Kevin Fay.

UNEP OzonAction has been strengthening the capacity of governments – particularly the operational focal points for the Montreal Protocol, known as National Ozone Units (NOUs) – and industry in developing countries to elaborate and enforce the policies required to implement the Protocol and to make informed decisions about alternative technologies. Its overall goal is to enable those countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty. OzonAction is part of UNEP’s Law Division.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology.

GFCCC WCCS – Press Release

GFCCC & UNEP Announce the Launch of their Cold Chain Database and Modelling Initiative

Arlington, VA – July 26^th, 2021 – The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction announced the launch of their Cold Chain Database and Modeling initiative.  The initiative marks the first formal step to assist developing countries in identifying their cold chain baseline in order to support the expansion of a sustainable cold chain and thereby help to reduce food loss and waste.  The launch comes in advance of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, and is key to the framework proposed by GFCCC for supporting the expansion of a sustainable cold chain on a global basis.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), between 30 and 40 percent of food grown annually is lost or wasted. In a follow-on study last year conducted by the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), it was projected that more effective cold chain utilization could reduce this loss rate by approximately one third.  With support provided by the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund, the Cold Chain Database and Modeling initiative is currently being piloted in six countries –  Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Maldives, North Macedonia, Paraguay, and Senegal.  From these pilot data gathering initiatives, a model is being developed that will allow the projection of benefits of cold chain expansion.

“The analyses generated by this tool will help countries build their national policy and action framework for more efficient cold chain utilization and increased food security, which is necessary if we are to achieve the Zero Hunger objective embodied in UN Sustainable Development Goal 2. At the same time, the Cold Chain Database will help advance environmental protection by identifying opportunities for lower global warming potential refrigerants and more energy efficient equipment, which will help reduce both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions” said James Curlin, Head of UNEP OzonAction. “It is important that the UN, industry, governments, and NGOs collectively help developing countries build sustainable food cold chains to reap these multiple societal benefits.”

The database and modeling effort is the first phase of the GFCCC framework agenda to identify and highlight the benefits of cold chain expansion, the development of a technology matrix to achieve these benefits, GFCCC program focused initially on capacity building in national governments, and ultimately the development of sustainable cold chain expansion projects.  “The framework we are proposing will allow countries to expand their cold chain sustainably, thereby increasing food security, expanding economic opportunity, and realizing significant environmental benefits,” said GFCCC Executive Director Kevin Fay.  “It is a road map that the international community can embrace.”

The Cold Chain Database concept, methodology and data collection questionnaires are offered to interested countries and partners to help in assessing local cold chain capacities and designing respective action plans and policies. For more details, please visit the following link:

http://www.foodcoldchain.org/resources/cold-chain-initiative/

UNEP, through its OzonAction Branch at Law Division, has been strengthening the capacity of governments – particularly the operational focal points for the Montreal Protocol, known as National Ozone Units (NOUs) – and industry in developing countries to elaborate and enforce the policies required to implement the Protocol and to make informed decisions about alternative technologies. Its overall goal is to enable those countries to meet and sustain their compliance obligations under the treaty.

GFCCC is an independent not-for-profit industry organization that seeks to simultaneously reduce food waste, and related greenhouse gas emissions in the processing, transportation, storage, and retail display of cold food by expanding and improving access to energy efficient low-global warming potential technology.

GFCCC-UNEP OzonAction Cold Chain Modelling Press Release

GFCCC Delivers an Update on their International Data-Gathering Efforts at Global Session

Nantes, France –AUGUST 27, 2020 — The ICCC 2020 Conference, held from the 26ththrough to the 28th of August, began earlier this weekto highlight the topics of food quality and food safety in the cold chain, energy efficiency in the cold chain, refrigerants of tomorrow, innovative technologies in the cold chain and more. GFCCC is using a virtual presentation at the biennial event to connect attending stakeholders and governments to the coalition’s activity around these themes, mainly through the its data–gathering initiative it is pursuing with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ozon Action.

“The ICCC Conference consistently brings the brightest minds in the cold chain space from around the globe to share the next generation of technology trends in these arenas. As a participant at the event, we are enthusiastic to present our food cold chain model, which we intend to develop as an international standard reference for the mapping and modelling food losses,”said Torben Funder Kristensen with GFCCC member company Danfoss, who is delivering the presentation.

The data gathering initiative is in the pilot phase and has been joined by six countries to lead in the development of the format.These six countries include Bahrain, Bosnia, Maldives, North Macedonia, Paraguay and Senegal. The GFCCC–UNEP Ozon Action project is being developed for these nations as a platform analysis for country–specific carbon footprints, including food loss and wastage, energy use, refrigerant use, impact of HCFC phase–out and HFC phase–down activities. It aims to provide a comprehensive picture of industries involved with cold chain and food supplyand bring attention to the burgeoning global problem of food loss and waste and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. In a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), FAO estimates that global food loss and waste contribute 4.4 billion metric tons of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions annually.

This activity is sponsored by the Eric Prieur Memorial Research Fund, originally created in August 2019 through a donation from the Carrier Corporation of $100,000, in memory of our active member, Eric Prieur, who passed away in the Ethiopian Airlines ET 302 plane crash in March 2019. Additional corporate contributions have now been received from an Advisory Board of industry and international policy experts including Bitzer, Danfoss, Lennox, and Emerson. The research made possible by this Fund will allow GFCCC to collaborate with policymakers, industry, and NGOs to achieve expansion of a sustainable cold chain and develop country–specific strategies for technology innovation and HFC reduction as per the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement.

GFCCC ICCC Press Release