By Robert Bradley Jr.
“In Europe’s air conditioning wars, the hoi polloi are beating the climate scolds. The public is putting comfort and public health above green dictates.” (- Wall Street Journal editorial, July 20, 2026).
The summer peak is climate alarmism time. To which it can be said: “don’t whine, chill.” That means enjoying air conditioning inside but also thinking about conditioned air outside and certainly mist machines. And witness the plethora of new products to handle the heat, from underwear to hats to shirts. From the AI summary:
Mini-A/C units for clothing integrate seamlessly into your wardrobe to provide portable, on-the-go cooling. Ranging from wearable clip-on personal fans and thermoelectric neck plates (like the Sony Reon Pocket) to battery-powered cooling jackets, these systems circulate continuous airflow or actively chill your skin. [1]
The rush to comfort is on. In Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported a surge in A/C installation with much more projected in France, Germany, and Belgium. In Britain, record orders have manufacturers working seven days a week. Chinese A/C exports to the EU are up more than 40 percent this year. Rhetoric from the global warming lobby is driving this, not only recent temperatures.
International Energy Agency Report
A recent report from the International Energy Agency documents the increase and predicts robust growth ahead. For anti-energy ecologists, it is hard being green! Some highlights from Cooling a Hotter World: El Niño Meets Strong Growth in Global Electricity Demand (July 10, 2026) follow:
“Global electricity demand for space cooling has grown by 50% since 2015, rising to around 2 900 terawatt-hours – more than the total electricity demand of the entire European Union. Since 2015, cooling has accounted for 14% of global electricity demand growth while reaching as much as 25% in the Middle East and North Africa region. In 2025, it contributed 1,400 gigawatts of peak electricity demand across markets, equivalent to the total installed power generation capacity of the United States.”
“… the adoption of air conditioning around the world has already been accelerating – the result of rising incomes in many economies with hot climates and record-breaking heatwaves in regions that previously had only limited cooling demand…. [P]erceptions of cooling are shifting, driving more consumers to consider purchasing an air conditioner (AC). At the same time, falling unit prices and elevated inventories across the supply chain are lowering barriers to AC adoption, suggesting that the number of households purchasing their first AC unit will reach new highs in the years ahead.”
“Annual AC unit shipments [globally] are now 25% higher than they were five years ago, fueled by growth largely in emerging and developing economies. In 2024, amid exceptional heatwaves, global AC shipments reached 200 million units. That year, they grew by about 10% in India, the Middle East, the United States and Europe – and by 40% or more in Latin America and Africa.”
“Worldwide, around 40% of the population has access to air conditioning, while more than 80% experiences cooling needs during at least part of the year. Yet the share of households equipped with AC remains highly uneven across regions. Nearly 90% of households in Japan and the United States have an air conditioner, while ownership rates remain substantially lower in Southeast Asia and India despite high cooling needs. In China, access to cooling has expanded rapidly, with ownership rising by 50% over the past decade.”
“Heat waves … increase the utilisation of existing air conditioners. The more extreme the heat, the more consumers – even those who are price sensitive and use cooling sparingly – tend to switch on their ACs. Second, heat waves stimulate new equipment sales, increasing AC ownership and creating a structural effect that persists over time.”
“Under today’s policy settings, cooling demand is set to grow by 1 600 terawatt-hours by 2035 – roughly equivalent to the total annual electricity demand of Japan and Korea combined.
Thermostat Statism
“Eight countries have introduced measures related to cooling since March 2026. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka have set minimum AC temperatures in offices, ranging from 24 °C to 26 °C. Jordan has restricted AC use in public offices, while the Seychelles government has asked public offices to switch off the AC once a week.”
Policy Implications
Climate policy should demote futile, wasteful mitigation policies to promote adaptation, which requires energy affordability, reliability, and availability. This is most needed in the EU, “another example of citizens revolting against the mandates and moralizing of government and progressive elites” (WSJ). The momentum is building for comfort over dogma.
[1] AI elaborated: “Specially designed jackets feature built-in USB-powered fans at the lower back or sides. They continuously pull fresh air from the outside and exhaust it through your collar and sleeves, dramatically increasing your body’s evaporative cooling rate.
Compact, lightweight devices that rest on your shoulders or clip onto your belt. They typically use thermoelectric (Peltier) plates to drop the skin temperature around your neck, or blow cooled air straight up toward your face.”
