India leads the cooling surge

Across much of Europe, they were often dismissed as unnecessary, with generations relying instead on thick stone walls, open windows, shaded courtyards and the occasional electric fan to endure the summer months.
That assumption is rapidly melting away.
As relentless heatwaves scorch large parts of Europe, North America and Asia, air conditioning is undergoing a dramatic transformation-from a symbol of comfort to a tool of survival. The debate is no longer about convenience but necessity, forcing governments, climate experts and urban planners to confront a difficult question: how do societies protect people from extreme heat without deepening the climate crisis that fuels it?
The urgency of that dilemma was captured vividly in a recent report by The Economist. In early July, with temperatures forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius, desperate shoppers in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, reportedly pushed against the doors of a Lidl supermarket until they gave way-all in a frantic bid to secure the last available portable air conditioner. In another store across the city, two men reportedly fought over the same coveted appliance.
Scenes that would once have seemed unimaginable in Europe are becoming increasingly common.

India's cooling boom

While Europe scrambles to adapt to a hotter future, India is already in the midst of one of the world's fastest cooling revolutions.
According to The Economist, India added around 50 million air-conditioning units between 2019 and 2024-roughly half the total number of units currently installed across Europe.
The expansion is only just beginning.
The India Energy and Climate Centre (IECC) at the University of California, Berkeley estimates that India could install another 130-150 million air-conditioning units over the next decade, driven by rapid urbanisation, rising incomes and increasingly frequent heatwaves.
For millions of Indian households, owning an AC is no longer viewed as a luxury purchase but as protection against temperatures that routinely climb above 45 degrees Celsius across large swathes of the country during summer.

Why Europe never embraced AC

Europe's relatively low adoption of air conditioning has long puzzled visitors from hotter parts of the world.
According to Scienceinsights, several factors explain this historical reluctance.
For decades, much of Europe enjoyed comparatively mild summers, reducing the perceived need for mechanical cooling. Many homes were constructed long before air conditioning became commonplace, featuring thick brick or stone walls designed to keep interiors naturally cool.
Electricity prices have also played a decisive role. Running an air conditioner in Europe typically costs two to three times more than in the United States because of higher energy tariffs and environmental taxes, discouraging widespread use.
Environmental concerns further reinforced resistance, with many Europeans viewing air conditioning as energy-intensive and incompatible with climate goals.
Yet climate change is steadily eroding those assumptions.
A Euronews report, citing the International Energy Agency (IEA), noted that although the European Union still has significantly fewer air conditioners than either China or the United States, the number of cooling units in Europe has more than doubled since 1990 as demand for cooling buildings has surged, particularly across northern Europe.
Researchers also point out that Europeans often experience extreme heat more intensely than people in South Asia-not because temperatures are necessarily higher, but because buildings, infrastructure, daily routines and even public expectations were never designed for prolonged heat. Longer daylight hours and humidity in many regions further amplify discomfort.

Cooling saves lives

The growing demand for air conditioning is not merely about comfort-it is increasingly recognised as a public health imperative.
At the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, cooling technologies were formally recognised as essential infrastructure, placing them in the same category as water supply and sanitation.
That designation reflects mounting scientific evidence about the deadly consequences of extreme heat.
According to the Lancet Countdown 2025, heat-related illnesses claimed nearly half a million lives annually between 2000 and 2019.
Another study published in The Lancet estimated that by the early 2020s, access to air conditioning was preventing approximately 190,000 deaths every year among people aged 65 and above.
As global temperatures continue to rise, cooling is increasingly being viewed as a life-saving intervention rather than an energy-hungry luxury.
The climate paradox
Yet widespread adoption of air conditioning presents one of climate policy's greatest contradictions.
The very technology that shields people from deadly heat also contributes to the warming planet.
Cooling currently accounts for around four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and global demand for cooling is projected to triple by 2050.
Air conditioners consume enormous amounts of electricity, much of which is still generated using fossil fuels in many countries. Older cooling systems also rely on refrigerants that can be powerful greenhouse gases if released into the atmosphere.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply expanding access to cooling but doing so sustainably-through energy-efficient buildings, renewable electricity, improved grid infrastructure and next-generation refrigerants.
As The Economist observed, countries unable to invest simultaneously in electricity grids and cooling infrastructure risk entering a vicious cycle: rising temperatures increase demand for cooling, which strains already fragile power systems and hampers economic development.

AC and economic growth

Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once described air conditioning as one of history's most transformative inventions.
Writing in 2009, Lee argued that AC made modern development in the tropics possible by creating comfortable workplaces that attracted investment and improved productivity.
While Singapore's remarkable growth was driven by numerous economic and political factors, cooling technology played a quiet but important supporting role.
Today, that argument is gaining renewed relevance as more tropical and developing nations grapple with rising temperatures.

Children and workers bear the greatest burden

The consequences of inadequate cooling extend well beyond household comfort.
According to UNICEF, nearly 466 million children-roughly one in five worldwide-now live in regions experiencing at least twice as many extremely hot days each year as they did six decades ago.
Extreme heat poses particular risks to infants, children and pregnant women, increasing the likelihood of dehydration, heat stress and other health complications where adequate cooling is unavailable.
Workers are equally vulnerable.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that by 2030, heat stress could erase 2.2 per cent of global working hours, equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs.
The greatest losses are expected in agriculture and outdoor labour, particularly across South Asia and West Africa, where soaring temperatures increasingly make physical work unsafe during daylight hours.

The future of cooling

Despite mounting evidence of its life-saving benefits, air conditioning continues to spark debate.
Critics warn that unchecked expansion will sharply increase electricity demand, intensify urban heat islands and lock countries into higher carbon emissions if cleaner energy systems do not keep pace.
Supporters argue that in a warming world, denying access to cooling is no longer realistic-or humane.
The challenge before policymakers is no longer whether societies should embrace cooling technologies, but how they can ensure that the next generation of air conditioners is cleaner, more efficient and powered by renewable energy.
As climate change pushes temperatures into uncharted territory, the humble air conditioner is emerging as far more than a household appliance. It is becoming one of the defining technologies of the twenty-first century-caught at the intersection of public health, economic productivity, energy security and the global fight against climate change. (IANS)