IET Fellow behind World Refrigeration Day gains support at UN Environment Meeting

From 2019, World Refrigeration Day will take place each year on 26 June, bringing the refrigeration industry into the global spotlight.

The chosen date coincides with Lord Kelvin’s birthday and will be promoted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and OzonAction throughout the 147 developing economies it operates in, alongside trade associations and professional bodies.

Stephen is a Refrigeration Consultant and Founder of CoolMentoring - an innovative mentoring scheme for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry – and is immediate past president of the Institute of Refrigeration. He has been the driving force behind setting up an international day of recognition for the industry and was invited to the UNEP meeting to present his ideas on what “the coolest day of the year“ will entail.

Reflecting on the opportunity to address UNEP delegates, Stephen said: “Not only was this an amazing experience for me personally, but the industry is often described as being hidden. Now we have a day to raise awareness of the amazing work we do globally.”

Refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps play a significant role in our day-to-day lives, providing essential engineering and technology to support a range of sectors we rely on, from the food supply chain to medicine and from process engineering to IT and data centres. However, until something goes wrong, people don’t tend to think about the technology and expertise that goes into providing these important solutions. The aim of the day is to raise awareness and understanding among the general public. 

Stephen went on to say: “Speaking at the UNEP meeting gave me an opportunity to explain how refrigeration is directly connected to many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and talk about the diversity and richness that exists within the refrigeration industry in terms of its systems, applications, locations, people and careers etc. It enabled me to show how passionate, exciting and professional this industry is.”

World Refrigeration Day takes place on 26 June. Follow #WREFD19 for more details.