Only 19% of European households have air conditioning, versus roughly 90% in the United States, leaving workplaces and homes far more exposed once temperatures cross the 30°C productivity threshold. The European Environment Agency warns that excessive heat now carries significant macroeconomic and fiscal implications, with climate-related losses in Europe having risen sharply since the 1980s, peaking at around €50 billion in 2021–2022.
What to Watch
The EU's policy response has been tilted toward emissions mitigation, but this summer has forced a recognition that adaptation investment — cooling infrastructure, grid modernisation, worker protection, diversified energy cooling — is no longer optional. The question now is whether public finances already stretched by emergency spending can absorb the scale of adaptation required before the next compounding summer arrives.
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