Extreme heat requires energy-efficient cooling

According to a report published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA), temperatures in Europe are rising twice as fast as the global average and extreme heatwaves are on the increase. Sustainable cooling of buildings that mitigates the effects of climate change indoors while being sustainable is thus becoming increasingly important. According to the EEA, heat waves have caused 77,000 to 129,000 deaths in Europe over the past 40 years. This corresponds to 90 percent of those who died due to the climate crisis.

Jutta Paulus, Green MEP and spokesperson on energy efficiency for the Greens/EFA Group, comments:

“Energy efficient and sustainably cooled buildings are key in the fight against the climate crisis and its consequences. Extreme heat waves endanger life and limb. This summer alone, at least 15,000 people died in Europe because of the record heat. 

In the current negotiations for stricter efficiency measures, I am campaigning for public buildings to be obliged to modernize their energy systems. With ever-hotter summers, the need for indoor cooling will also increase. As the person responsible for the negotiations on the F-Gas Regulation in the Industry Committee, I am therefore also fighting to end the use of climate-damaging fluorinated refrigerants as soon as possible. The technical alternatives are long available already.”