Too hot to cope: Why cooling must become Europe’s next social right

Author: Marine Cornelis, Digital Ambassador of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), Executive Director of Next Energy Consumer

Europe is warming faster than the global average, and millions of households are already paying the price in health, in bills, and in sleepless nights. Cooling a home has shifted from a comfort issue to a safety question. This article explores what summer energy poverty really means, why air conditioning alone will not save us, and what fair, sustainable solutions look like for citizens, cities, and policymakers.

Trapped in heat

Summer energy poverty refers to households unable to maintain adequate indoor thermal comfort due to insufficient or unaffordable access to cooling. A 2023 EU survey found that 26% of households could not keep their homes comfortably cool; nearly 35% among the lowest-income group. Peer-reviewed studies link inadequate cooling to between 46,400 and 60,000 excess deaths in Europe in summer 2022, 89% among people aged 65 or older.

What keeps us hot

Europe’s cities were not designed for the heat they now receive. Concrete and asphalt absorb heat all day and release it at night (the ‘urban heat island’ effect). Nearly 75% of the building stock is inefficient, most homes were not built without summer thermal performance in mind, and the risk falls unevenly: renters, i.e. 31% of the EU population, cannot renovate and retrofit programmes rarely reach them. Women face additional barriers, from physiological heat tolerance to safety concerns outside. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive required Member States to submit National Building Renovation Plans by December 2025. How far those plans reach the most exposed will matter.

The appliance trap

Faced with a building they cannot change, many households reach for the appliance they can. An air conditioner brings relief and can be even lifesaving, but it drives up electricity bills, releases waste heat into overheated streets, and feeds the urban heat island effect. In Greece in July 2025, a single heatwave drove wholesale electricity prices up 45% in one day, pushed demand toward 10,000 megawatts, and placed the entire grid on emergency alert, a warning of what unmanaged cooling demand means for grids everyone depends on and everyone pays for. Passive measures, such as closing blinds, using fans, reflective roofs, and urban greening, are low-cost and proven. Greater access to active cooling tends to raise overall consumption, which is why efficiency and equity must advance together.

The price of staying cool

You can’t buy relief if you can’t afford it. A 2026 survey by the European Environment Agency and Eurofound found that nearly two-thirds of the least affluent respondents could not afford to keep their homes cool in summer; among renters, 49%. EU data on utility bill arrears reinforce this: nearly half of households in arrears reported being unable to keep cool in summer 2022, compared with 24% without arrears. The gap is wide, growing, and demands urgent action. The gap is wide, growing, and demands urgent action.

Three things Europe must do now

Three failures underpin summer energy poverty: invisible data, inaccessible renovation, and unaffordable energy. The EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions HC070 indicator has been collected only three times in sixteen years (2007, 2012, and 2023). Regular data collection is the minimum condition for targeted policies. Without it, the most vulnerable remain statistically invisible.

Renovation programmes must require summer thermal performance alongside winter insulation and reach renters, not only owners. Young people disproportionately rent, have the least capacity to adapt, and face decades of worsening summers in housing they did not choose. Cities are on the front line: the Covenant of Mayors supports summer energy poverty reporting, and local action must be resourced.

Energy tariffs must protect low-income consumers during heat periods. Solar generation and cooling demand align in southern and central Europe, making time-of-use pricing a real opportunity. Citizens who ask their energy supplier or local representative about summer tariff protection are right to do so.

Cooling is a matter of resilience. It belongs to Europe’s social contract.

This opinion editorial is produced in co-operation with the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) – the biggest annual event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use in Europe. #EUSEW2026 marks the 20th edition and will once again bring together the community of people who care about building a secure and clean energy future for the next generations.

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Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the information in the article. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and should not be considered as representative of the European Commission’s official position.