Sweltering temperatures across Western Europe triggered by a heat dome have transformed air conditioning into an increasingly topical — and contentious — debate.
European countries that have not historically relied on air con are navigating a complex decision: whether to embrace it fully — which experts have warned could come with environmental and financial concerns — or to resist, as part of a quest for alternative solutions.
In France, politicians laying the groundwork for their electoral campaigns ahead of the 2027 presidential election have seized upon the air conditioning debate.
Leading far-right figure Marine Le Pen has renewed calls for a nationwide expansion of air conditioning, echoing a pledge she made in 2025 for a "major air conditioning equipment plan."
Meanwhile, her far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon has come out on the opposite side of the debate.
"We can't install air conditioning everywhere. It's a false solution that makes the problem worse," he said, calling for better insulation of buildings.
On Elon Musk's X platform, a number of users have framed Europe's lack of air conditioning as an ill-informed, politicised, ideological choice, in direct contrast with the US's reliance on the technology. They argue that the old continent's decision not to use it has resulted in citizens facing unbearable temperatures without access to cool spaces.
Meanwhile, Google Trends data from the past week shows searches for "home air conditioning installation" in France rose by 130% since temperatures began to rise, mirroring similar search increases in multiple European countries, as residents look for ways to battle the heat.
Where does Europe stand on air con?
Europe's air conditioning usage is low relative to other continents, particularly North America and Asia, with only around 19-20% of households having air conditioning.
According to analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, citing International Energy Agency projections, the number of air-conditioning units in the EU could reach 275 million by 2050, more than double the levels in 2019.
Among European nations, countries with hotter climates predictably rank first in terms of the number of air conditioning units.
Italy tops the charts, accounting for over one-third of all electricity used for air conditioning across all 27 European Union member states, according to Eurostat. The figure amounts to nearly 23,000 terajoules out of a total of just over 60,000 across the bloc.
Italy is followed by Greece, France and Spain in the amount of household electricity it uses for space cooling.
Why does Europe not have air conditioning?
There are factors which explain why Europe has not historically used air conditioning across the board.
One reason is that climate change has pushed global temperatures up, making heatwave episodes increasingly frequent in countries which historically had milder climates and therefore no need for widespread AC.
Speaking to Euronews' fact-checking team, The Cube, Vincent Viguié, a researcher at the Paris-based International Centre for Research on Environment (CIRED) said: "For a long time — up until now actually — with the climate of the 20th century and before, air conditioning was not really useful in most of the French metropolitan territory because of the climate, which was mild both in winter and in summer."
"This is changing with climate change," he added.
Although large swathes of Europe have been smothered by a heat dome during the latest heatwave episode, these temperatures would have been near impossible just a few decades ago, according to scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) project. They used observed and forecast temperature data to analyse the hottest three-day period of the heat spell.
The WWA determined that both the daytime highs and overnight temperatures would have been "virtually impossible to occur at this time of year" as recently as 1976 — just 50 years ago.
What do experts say about the need for air con in Europe?
While politicians often frame the issue as a choice between installing air conditioning or rejecting it altogether, experts told us that the reality is more nuanced.
Available evidence suggests that air conditioning can play an important role in protecting people during heatwaves by reducing heat-related health risks, particularly in vulnerable groups such as the elderly, hospital patients and people with underlying health conditions.
Antonio Gasparrini, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said there is "definitely evidence" that AC is associated with lower heat-related health risks.
Although the impact is hard to quantify, he described it as "one of the most straightforward public health measures to address the direct impact of heat in the short term," whilst stressing that it should still form one part of longer-term strategies.
Other such steps he pointed to were improving building insulation and urban planning measures that better protect cities from heat.
Pierre Masselot, an environmental epidemiologist at the same institution, said studies have linked greater air-conditioning use with lower heat-related mortality over recent decades, but that appears to explain around only one-fifth of the overall improvement.
"I would say it's definitely useful, especially for the more vulnerable populations," Masselot said. "However, this also induces some equity questions as personal AC is not necessarily used by the most vulnerable."
"There is also the caveat that it is very difficult to have high-quality data on AC ownership and use, and these data are extrapolations to some extent," he added.
Is AC unhealthy?
Although some air conditioning critics argue that it is unhealthy and can make people ill, experts also say the technology itself is not inherently the problem.
Primrose Freestone, an associate professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, told The Cube that well-maintained air-conditioning systems can even improve indoor air quality by filtering pollen and particulate matter.
The risks arise when filters are not properly maintained, cleaned or replaced. For instance, neglected air conditioning units can harbour harmful microbes, including bacteria that can cause Legionnaires' disease.
Environmental trade-offs
Whilst air conditioning can protect people during extreme heat, its widespread adoption also comes with environmental costs.
Cooling systems increase electricity demand, particularly during heatwaves, and if powered by fossil fuels, can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
They also expel waste heat outdoors, which can exacerbate the urban heat island effect by making city areas that are densely built even hotter, as well as increase the strain on the energy grid, triggering the risk of blackouts.
Viguié said the debate should not be framed as a choice between installing air conditioning and rejecting it.
"It's not air conditioner or not," he said. "It's more how you insulate a building against heat."
He added that whilst hospitals and other settings caring for vulnerable people require reliable cooling, the need for other buildings to have air conditioning systems depends on how well insulated and protected they are from overheating to begin with.
This issue is particularly relevant to France and other parts of western Europe, where millions live in buildings that were historically designed to retain the heat in the winter, and are now exposed as periods of high temperatures become more frequent.
According to building expert Julien Hans, research and innovation director at the French Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB), around half of France's existing building stock fails to meet overheating standards that have become a requirement for new builds.
For Hans, air conditioning "should be deployed alongside other solutions."
"First, by prioritising reducing the heat island effect, secondly by protecting building facades and windows, before then insulating roofs," he said. "If you apply all these actions, you can maintain satisfactory living conditions without the systematic use of air conditioning in the majority of the cases."
Hans added that France's debate had become overly focused on whether people should be "for or against" air conditioning, rather than on how buildings themselves need to adapt to a warmer climate.
According to Viguié, measures such as installing shutters, increasing shade and planting trees can often be introduced relatively quickly.
However, deeper renovations, such as insulating buildings against heat, are more difficult and have been slowed by administrative and financial barriers.
