There's a part of this puzzle that people don't often bring up.

You can increase the efficiency of air conditioners by lowering the ambient temperature they are working with. How do you do this?

We need to build wide verandas on our houses as has long been done in the American south. Verandas keep direct sunlight out of the lower part of the building, lowering temperature.

Good blinds. Close the blinds on your south facing windows during the day.

If you are a home owner, plant shade trees by your south facing windows. Choose native trees if at all possible. I used to live in an apartment which faced west with huge picture windows and as it was an older building the landlords could provide heat OR cooling. There was inevitably a two week period of fluctuating temperatures. My apartment would become all but uninhabitable even with all the blinds closed.

I now live in a different apartment which faces west with huge picture windows in a building with the same a/c system. It doesn't become uninhabitable during the spring because there is a TREE outside. Thank you tree. I love you, tree.

Double glazing! Double glazing is often seen as something to keep heat in, but it also helps keep heat out. Insulation.

In other words, as well as working towards making air conditioning units more efficient, we also need to make what changes we can to our built environment to lower the load on air conditioning and reduce the number of days when we need it.