Via Informed Infrastructure, a report on a new initiative to help scale up the adoption of cool surfaces as an essential strategy for combating climate change:

Climate Resolve, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, has launched Shine On, a new initiative funded by the Grantham Foundation and ClimateWorks Foundation’s Clean Cooling Collaborative (CCC). This innovative program will help scale up the adoption of cool surfaces as an essential strategy for combating climate change.

Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Climate Resolve, emphasized the multi-benefits of cool surfaces, stating, “Cool roofs, cool pavements, and cool walls address climate change in two significant ways. First, they directly cool down neighborhoods, enhancing public health and saving energy by cooling homes and reducing the need for air-conditioning and refrigeration. Second, and just as important, these materials reflect sunlight back into space, reducing the radiative forcing that is driving climate change. Shine On will be pivotal in accelerating the broad implementation of these solutions nationally and globally.”

California State Senator Henry Stern (D – SD 27) reinforced the Shine On initiative’s efforts to drive widespread adoption of cool surfaces to benefit residents of disadvantaged communities, stating, “As the State Senator representing the heart of the urban heat island in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, I know first hand that Climate Resolve’s cool surfaces work doesn’t just uplift forgotten frontline communities—it saves lives.”

The Shine On initiative is grounded in peer-reviewed research conducted by MIT, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other leading academic institutions.

Central to this program is the Sol Collaborative, an alliance of stakeholders from academia, national laboratories, public agencies, community-based organizations, industry associations, and private sector companies. The Sol Collaborative will forge interdisciplinary teams within specialized working groups to achieve the overarching goals of the initiative.

“The Clean Cooling Collaborative is thrilled to support Climate Resolve’s Shine On initiative and the interdisciplinary teams within the working groups of the Sol Collaborative,” said Axum Teferra, Senior Associate Director of CCC. “Climate Resolve has an extensive track record as a nonprofit leader and is adept at uniting diverse stakeholders to implement effective climate solutions. We are excited to see Shine On continue this course through the wider deployment of cool surfaces.”

Cyril Yee, Director of the Grantham Foundation, shared his excitement about partnering with Climate Resolve on this groundbreaking initiative. “Shine On and the Sol Collaborative align with Grantham’s belief that cool surfaces should ultimately benefit the world’s developing countries. We see an enormous need and opportunity to provide incentives to private markets to fund cool surface projects that bring multi-benefits to under-resourced communities globally. Time is of the essence.”