Carrier Sponsors World Cold Chain Symposium 2024 to Help Build a Global Sustainable Cold Chain
The Global Food Cold Chain Council (GFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction convened for the fourth annual World Cold Chain Symposium on Oct. 26, 2024, sponsored by Carrier Global Corporation. The program was held at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand, ahead of the 36th Montreal Protocol Meeting of the Parties. The recording of the event is now available online by visiting the World Cold Chain Symposium website.
The theme for this year’s event was Building a Sustainable Cold Chain to highlight the different facets that coalesce to create a sustainable cold chain from start to finish.
The Symposium brought together leaders from government, industry, nongovernmental organizations and academia to discuss the means of reducing food loss and waste through sustainable expansion of the food cold chain. The program featured opening remarks from Meg Seki, Executive Director of the U.N. Ozone Secretariat, and Ed Dryden, President of Refrigeration, Carrier.
This event featured lively audience discussion following the experts sharing their knowledge and experience about the sustainable cold chain. Topics covered the end-to-end creation 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 examined the necessary components for the development of a sustainable cold chain. The sessions comprising the Symposium included:
- The Impact and Benefits of the Cold Chain
- Technology for Cold Chains – Connecting the Dots
- Training and Servicing Issues – Challenges and Opportunities
- Momentum in Financing Opportunities and Mechanisms
Carrier was a proud sponsor of the event and played an active role.
Ed Dryden, President of Carrier Refrigeration, delivered an inspiring welcome message emphasizing the critical importance of the cold chain on a global scale. He highlighted the company’s commitment to advancing sustainable cold chain solutions that benefit both people and the planet for generations to come. Dryden underscored the need for collaboration, stating that by sharing knowledge and resources, we can collectively address the challenges facing the cold chain industry. Carrier is dedicated to working together to accelerate change and create a lasting impact, helping to shape a net-zero future.
Kori Recalde, Senior Director, ESG, Carrier, hosted the event.
As part of the discussions around The Impact and Benefits of the Cold Chain, in the first session, Kori presented Carrier’s ambitious and crucial sustainability goals and introduced the University of Michigan study “The impact of refrigeration on food losses and associated greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain”, published in May 2024, which was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Carrier.
The authors of the study, Aaron Friedman-Heiman, MBA/MS Graduate from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability and Shelie Miller, University of Michigan, Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professor of Sustainable Systems, emphasized the disparity in cold chain infrastructure between developed and developing countries. By modeling food losses at each stage of the supply chain, the study highlights where the cold chain can be optimized to reduce food losses and emissions.
Pankaj Mehta, Managing Director, India, Southeast Asia, Carrier Transicold, moderated the second session focused on cold chain technologies and also delivered a presentation about cold chain opportunities and challenges in India.
The third session was hosted by Walid Kaddachi, Strategic Development Director, Africa, Carrier Transicold Europe, who discussed the importance of building capacity for a sustainable cold chain in emerging countries. During the session, Jeanne de Crepy, Project Manager, UN World Food Programme (WFP), introduced the WFP Transport Training Center that Carrier has supported since 2022 in Accra, Ghana.
The Symposium is one of several important international events that explore all the areas of importance in cooling and cold chain development. The Symposium and its sponsors plan to continue the dialogue and provide more context to the challenges and opportunities of developing a sustainable cold chain.