Will Europeans now start demanding air conditioning? It’s a cultural and architectural challenge

Europe is warming faster than any other continent, and countries that once had relatively mild summers are now experiencing increasingly frequent and intense heat waves.

“The question is how to provide it in a way that is efficient, equitable, and smart. Not by panic-buying inefficient, energy-intensive portable ACs.”

Air-conditioning is built on a paradox: The machines that keep us cool are also heating the planet.

Both University of Oxford researcher Miranda and IEA analyst Voswinkel call for a “cooling hierarchy”: The priority should be preventing buildings from overheating in the first place—through trees, shade, reflective materials, and natural ventilation. Active cooling should come later, focused on the places that need it most, such as schools, hospital wards, and care homes. From Paris, where he is based, Voswinkel points to one efficient example: Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the city expanded its district heating network to also distribute chilled river water through underground pipelines, cooling public buildings. “I think that these heat waves are making more and more policymakers realize that we have to face this new reality and make good plans,” he says.

Sabrina Weiss