The current record-breaking heatwave in Europe has exposed how policies driven by ideological considerations can disproportionately harm the most vulnerable members of society. As temperatures repeatedly passed 40°C in recent weeks, most European homes remained poorly cooled, while Green and progressive politicians continued to treat air conditioning as an ‘environmental problem’ rather than an essential safeguard.
With more than 1,300 excess deaths linked to the heat since 21 June, Europe’s hostility towards air conditioning has become a source of global ridicule. American social media filled with jokes about Europeans enduring 40°C flats while rejecting a technology regarded as standard in the US.
Chinese users joined in, contrasting Europe’s ordeal with China’s ‘AC freedom’, while state-linked media highlighted surging demand for Chinese-made units. Midea’s portable systems sold out in some markets as buyers searched for equipment suitable for older buildings where fixed installations are difficult.
According to accisable data, only around 20 per cent of European households have air conditioning, compared with nearly 90 per cent in the United States and more than 60 per cent in China.
The mockery recently escalated into an unusual confrontation. Responding to criticism, Socialist Deputy Mayor of Paris, Audrey Pulvar accused Americans of contributing to the global warming now affecting Europe through their greenhouse-gas emissions and widespread use of air conditioning, effectively arguing that they shared responsibility for the crisis—and therefore for the resulting death toll.
France is among the hardest-hit European countries, with its public health agency recording around 1,000 excess deaths between 24 and 26 June, 85 per cent of them among people aged 65 or over. Spain’s mortality-monitoring system attributed 327 deaths to high temperatures by 26 June. Germany reported several drownings as people sought relief, while Italy recorded several direct heat-related deaths; full excess-mortality estimates for both countries are not yet available.
It is important to note that heat-related deaths are often underestimated and that the true toll becomes apparent only later. A peer-reviewed Nature Medicine study estimated 62,775 heat-related deaths across Europe in 2024, including more than 19,000 in Italy, 6,743 in Spain, 6,282 in Germany, and 2,451 in France, whereas the figures initially reported by the media at the time were far lower.
Yet France’s Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut said she was ‘horrified’ by calls to install air conditioning everywhere. She argued that cooling units would not prevent forest fires, crop failures, or animal deaths and described them as an ‘emergency measure’ rather than genuine adaptation. Critics seized on the remarks as evidence that parts of Europe’s political establishment remain ideologically hostile towards air conditioning even as thousands are dying during the heatwave.
Blame the Greens, Not Americans
In a recent statement provided to Hungarian Conservative, the independent consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center accused Europe of allowing ideology and bureaucracy to obstruct life-saving cooling. Its new study, Keeping it Cool, documents the regulatory framework across all 27 EU member states, Britain, and Switzerland.
‘Europe cannot declare a climate emergency and then make it illegal to run a fan,’ said Bill Wirtz, the group’s senior policy analyst. The report states that residents of apartment buildings in Spain may require a three-fifths majority of co-owners before installing air conditioning, applicants in Geneva may need a medical certificate, and residents in Vienna face approval from two municipal authorities as well as unanimous consent from co-owners.
The group wants the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive amended to establish a right to install residential cooling, with permits automatically approved after 21 days. The directive currently regulates building efficiency and cooling performance but creates no such right, leaving façade, heritage, noise, and condominium restrictions largely to national and local authorities. The European Commission itself has declined to endorse either side in the broader debate.
EU climate legislation is also changing what consumers may buy. Under the F-gas Regulation, small split air-to-water systems using refrigerants with a global-warming potential of 150 or more will be prohibited from 2027, with the threshold extended to small air-to-air split systems in 2029. The rules apply to all manufacturers but will force much of the market away from widely used R-32 units. That means many Chinese product will be banned from the European Union.
The Climate Hypocrisy of Europe’s Elite
Right-wing parties across Europe did not miss the opportunity to highlight the damaging consequences of progressive policies. ‘If I am elected president, I will put into place a massive air-conditioning plan,’ Marine Le Pen declared, with her National Rally proposing priority installations in hospitals, care homes, and schools alongside financial support for household systems.
In Germany, the leading opposition party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) adopted an even sharper line. ‘Climate madness leads to more heat deaths through ideological construction mistakes such as dispensing with air conditioning,’ said Marc Bernhard, the party’s spokesman in the Bundestag. He accused the government of omitting air conditioning from its federal heat-protection plan and argued that, instead of using technical solutions to protect vulnerable people, officials and publicly funded organizations preferred ‘politically correct warnings’ about global warming.
‘Climate policies presented as protecting the future increasingly risk imposing the greatest burden on those who need affordable relief today’
The air-conditioning debate has become a vivid example of how Europe’s green transition can make everyday life more expensive, complicated, and uncomfortable. Policymakers warn that heatwaves are worsening because of climate change, yet the most immediate means of protection is burdened by high electricity prices, permit requirements, condominium vetoes, and refrigerant restrictions.
Wealthier Europeans can renovate their homes, install compliant systems, or leave overheated cities; poorer families, tenants, and pensioners are left waiting for long-term solutions while enduring homes never designed for this climate. Climate policies presented as protecting the future increasingly risk imposing the greatest burden on those who need affordable relief today.
That hypocrisy was also reflected in a recent story that made headlines across Europe. POLITICO Brussels reported last week that the European Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters switched off cooling on floors one to seven, citing the extreme heat and energy-saving concerns. Floors eight to 13 remained air-conditioned, including the offices of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and most commissioners. Officials working in the Berlaymont quoted by POLITICO described the arrangement as ‘feudalism’ and a ‘disgrace’.
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