It's been hot here the last month, some days well into the 30s, NB hot for Britain, obvs our Southern European friends are used to these kinds of temperatures in mid-summer, but the whole of Europe has apparently been going through something of a heatwave!
And people have responded by snapping up shares in air conditioning companies, makes sense, but the odd thing is the EU seems very resistant to the idea of AC, especially among the left, with many thinking it's decadent.
Traditionally, Europeans didn’t need much cooling. You had thick stone walls, shutters, and buildings designed to stay comfortable without any need for AC, but that’s not always enough anymore, especially not in Britain where the idea of passive design to keep out heat really isn't part of the design of most buildings!
It's actually a bit of a pain to install AC in the EU, with rules about how things look from the street or regulations meant to protect the environment. Critics worry about the power that AC units draw and the blast of warm air they send outside, making the city even hotter.
They’re not wrong. But at the same time, the health risks from extreme heat are real and growing.
And the environmental case against AC isn’t as straightforward as you’d think. Yes, it cranks up electricity use. If you’re on fossil fuels, that means higher emissions. But Europe’s grid is changing all the time—more renewables, more nuclear, and a steady drop in dirtier power.
And modern AC units are a lot more efficient than the clunky old ones. Many double as heat pumps, which means they’ll cool you off in summer and heat your place in winter.
Then there’s the fact that heat is expensive. Productivity falls, schools struggle, hospitals get busier, and the most vulnerable are at real risk. Failing to keep buildings cool costs everyone, maybe more than turning on an AC.
Of course AC isn't and shouldn't be the only solution....There are lots of fixes—better insulation, smart shades, green rooftops, trees in the city, reflective building materials, smarter airflow. New buildings can be designed for hotter summers, so you don’t have to rely just on technology.
But during the worst heatwaves, air conditioning isn’t a “nice-to-have” anymore. It’s quickly becoming basic infrastructure.
Sources:
International Energy Agency (IEA) – The Future of Cooling: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-cooling
European Environment Agency – Climate change impacts, risks and adaptation in Europe: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/climate-change-adaptation
