2024 has officially been recorded as the hottest year in history. With extreme heat waves and rising energy poverty, keeping homes and buildings cool is no longer a luxury – it’s a matter of survival.
EHPA’s latest webinar gathered experts from the CoolLIFE, PLAN4COLD, and REDI4HEAT EU projects to discuss innovative solutions and policy frameworks that can help Europe transition to decarbonised heating and cooling.
Heating and cooling make up around half of Europe’s energy consumption. While southern Europe faces an urgent rise in cooling demand due to climate change, heat pumps – which can both heat and cool – represent an effective solution. However, boosting their uptake requires a holistic approach able to blend strong policies, technological advancements, and financial support.
The European Union has introduced ambitious measures in this regard and announced a major revision of its Heating and Cooling Strategy for 2026. The EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), for instance, requires municipalities with over 45,000 inhabitants to develop local heating and cooling plans. Yet, as Alicia Göpner from the Frankfurt-based Climate Alliance pointed out at the webinar, only Germany has fully incorporated this directive into national law, leaving many other countries lagging behind.
To put policies into action, pilot projects are being launched in municipalities in Italy, Portugal, and Greece, with Spain and Croatia following. These cities will test and refine strategies to integrate renewable energy into heating and cooling systems. However, significant roadblocks remain, including regulatory gaps, financial constraints, and technical barriers to implementing green solutions at scale.
So, how can Europe accelerate progress? Key takeaways from the discussion highlight the urgency of action:
The penetration of renewables in heating & cooling isn’t growing fast enough: the Renewable Energy Directive‘s binding target is a step forward but remains insufficient.
Decarbonising heating & cooling requires multi-level cooperation: strategies must be tailored to local contexts and engage EU, national, and local actors. Chiara Lazzari and Riccardo Battisti from Ambiente Italia emphasised three key focus areas: stronger local governance to enforce EU directives, increased private-sector investment in sustainable infrastructure, and the use of digital tools for smarter energy planning.
A comprehensive approach is needed: many National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) still treat heating & cooling as disjointed elements rather than an integrated challenge, warned Saverio Papa from the European Heat Pump Association.
Data gaps remain a challenge: national comprehensive assessments show varying data granularity, making informed policymaking difficult. Open-source platforms, such as the CoolLIFE tool introduced by Jean-Sébastien Broc Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy (IEECP), provide valuable resources like city training programmes, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing networks to support local authorities.
Europe stands at a crossroads. The policies are in place, the technology exists, and the need has never been greater. The challenge now is turning strategy into implementation, ensuring that both clean heating and cooling become the norm, not the exception.
Learn more about our policy work and EU projects to explore how we’re pushing forward decarbonisation and innovation in buildings and industry.
