Europe heatwave kills 1,300 as cooling demand surges
A lethal heatwave has exposed the economic and infrastructural limits of Europe's aging housing stock, driving a sudden surge in air conditioning sales while sparking a fierce political debate over how to adapt to rising global emissions.
A severe heatwave that pushed temperatures to 44C in parts of France has been linked to more than 1,300 excess deaths across Europe, according to the World Health Organisation. The extreme weather has triggered a sharp spike in the sale of air conditioners and fans, highlighting a critical vulnerability in the continent's residential infrastructure.
Just 20 per cent of European households have air conditioning, compared with 90 per cent in the United States. Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the European Commission spokesperson for climate, attributed this disparity to the age of the continent's housing stock. She noted the commission does not have an air conditioning policy and is "not micromanaging how people should be going about this."
The sudden consumer rush for cooling equipment collides directly with the root cause of the crisis. A new report released on Monday by Ember, the Kearney Institute and KPMG found that global carbon emissions from the energy sector rose by 1.1 per cent last year. The United States, which produces 13 per cent of global CO2 emissions, saw the largest increase, driven by a 10 per cent jump in coal consumption. The EU's energy sector emissions rose by a more modest 0.5 per cent.
The emissions disparity drew a sharp rebuke from Audrey Pulvar, Paris deputy mayor for international relations, after US tourists mocked Europe's lack of air conditioning. "As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing," she wrote on Instagram. "Your cities, which are 90 per cent air conditioned, are not unrelated to this."
For businesses and investors, the crisis presents a structural dilemma. While manufacturers and retailers of cooling equipment are seeing a short-term boost in sales, the World Weather Attribution group noted such temperatures would be "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change. This suggests a long-term cycle where rising global emissions drive lethal European heatwaves, forcing reactive consumer spending on energy-intensive cooling that risks further straining power grids.
European policymakers remain divided on how to break that cycle. In France, the political left, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, argues that installing air conditioning nationwide "would only make things worse." Conversely, the far-right Rassemblement National is backing a mass rollout of cooling systems. Until a consensus is reached, Europe's aging buildings will continue to bear the physical and economic brunt of a warming planet.
