Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Dong Mingzhu are the first Cool Leaders. The UN Environment Programme’s Cool Coalition presented the inaugural Cool Leaders awards at the Global Cooling Pledge Assembly in Singapore on 17 September 2026 — two countries and one individual recognised for advancing sustainable cooling and resilience against extreme heat. Singapore’s environment minister and a UAE energy undersecretary accepted the country awards; Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances, became the sole individual honoree.
FAKTA
- What: the inaugural Cool Leaders awards — a global recognition initiative launched by the UNEP Cool Coalition for outstanding leaders in sustainable cooling and extreme heat resilience.
- When and where: presented 17 September 2026 at the Global Cooling Pledge Assembly in Singapore (15–18 September 2026), hosted by the UNEP Cool Coalition.
- The three honorees: Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances.
- Singapore: recognised for heat resilience and sustainable cooling, including passive cooling, in a dense tropical urban environment; accepted by Grace Fu Hai Yien, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment.
- The UAE: recognised for district cooling and for connecting cooling with international climate and development policy; accepted by Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs.
- Dong Mingzhu: the individual award, presented by UNEP Climate Change Division director Martin Krause, for leadership in ultra-efficient, low-carbon cooling technologies such as Zero Carbon Source air conditioning — the first entrepreneur and the only Chinese representative so honoured.
- The role: the Cool Leaders’ term lasts one year, during which the honorees use their recognition to promote sustainable cooling worldwide.
Three approaches to the cooling crisis
Extreme heat is among the deadliest and fastest-growing climate risks, and the three first Cool Leaders represent three different ways of meeting it. Singapore stands for what a dense tropical city can do: passive cooling and heat-resilient urban design that cuts the need for mechanical cooling in the first place. The UAE represents scale and policy — district cooling systems that serve whole neighbourhoods efficiently, and the work of putting cooling into international climate and development policy. Dong Mingzhu represents technology: under her leadership, Gree has pushed ultra-efficient, low-carbon cooling equipment, including its Zero Carbon Source air-conditioning system.
The country awards went to Singapore and the UAE; the individual award to Dong. Both country ministers attended the Singapore ceremony in person, underlining that cooling — long treated as a niche energy topic — now sits in the climate mainstream.
What was launched alongside the awards
The assembly was not only ceremonial. Brazil, Cambodia and Côte d’Ivoire joined a Nature for Cooling Challenge led by UNEP and Sustainable Energy for All, backed by a Global Environment Facility grant and co-financing, promoting urban forests, parks, green roofs and other nature-based projects that can cut peak summer temperatures by up to 5°C. Governments also began shaping a global roadmap on heat resilience. The Cool Leaders award itself is designed as a working honour: the one-year term turns recognition into advocacy for sustainable cooling technologies.
The bottom line
The first Cool Leaders tell a deliberate story: cities, states and industry each have a lever on the heat crisis. Singapore shows what urban design can do, the UAE shows what infrastructure and policy can do, and Dong Mingzhu shows what efficient technology can do. One year of advocacy each will test whether recognition can move the world’s cooling trajectory toward sustainability.
Read more on Watan News: the first Cool Leaders.
