In June 2025, the Indian government proposed that all new air conditioning units—whether in homes, businesses, or vehicles—should operate between 20°C and 28°C, with 24°C as the recommended default. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) estimates that this sensible measure could save a massive 20 billion units of energy annually, translating to ₹10,000 crores and a reduction of 16 million tonnes in emissions. While such energy-saving initiatives are undoubtedly vital, especially when energy supplies are strained, they often overshadow a more pressing concern: the profound lack of access to cooling in developing nations like India. Ensuring universal access to cooling is not just about comfort; it’s an urgent public health necessity and a critical strategy for climate change adaptation. By focusing solely on cooling as an energy and emissions issue, we risk overlooking the fundamental right of vulnerable populations to protect themselves from dangerous heat stress.
In India, the problem isn’t excessive air conditioning; it’s the severe lack of it. As temperatures continue to rise, threatening both well-being and livelihoods, cooling has transformed from a luxury into a vital adaptation strategy for the Global South. Yet, in 2021, a mere 13% of urban and a shocking 1% of rural Indian households owned an AC. While improving efficiency and encouraging mindful usage among existing users are important, policies that fail to prioritize access for the most vulnerable risk becoming hollow gestures that do little to address the deep-seated inequities at the core of climate justice.
Unequal Battles Against the Heat
India’s national average for AC ownership hovers around 5%, but this figure is heavily skewed towards the urban wealthy. In 2021, for instance, the richest 10% of India’s population, predominantly in cities, owned a staggering 72% of all air conditioning units. This stark imbalance is evident across states and regions too. Delhi, for example, saw over 32% of its households with at least one AC, while poorer states like Bihar and Odisha reported ownership rates as low as 1%. Despite experiencing escalating temperatures, these states continue to suffer from inadequate public cooling infrastructure, unreliable power supplies, prohibitive appliance costs, and poorly designed buildings.
The global cooling divide paints an even more alarming picture of inequality. Developed nations have long enjoyed widespread thermal comfort, initially through heating systems and more recently through ubiquitous air conditioning. In 2020, nearly 90% of households in the U.S. and Japan had an AC, a stark contrast to just 22% in Central and South America and a meagre 6% in Sub-Saharan Africa. The per capita electricity consumed for space cooling in the U.S. (7 GJ) is an astonishing 28 times higher than in India, 19 times higher than in Indonesia, and 13 times higher than in Brazil. When Europe faced a heatwave with temperatures soaring to 42°C in cities like London and Paris, swift public investments were made in cooling infrastructure, leading to a doubling of AC ownership in Europe since 1990. The International Energy Agency (IEA) even forecasts a fourfold increase there by 2050. However, when major cities in the Global South regularly hit temperatures above 40°C, their growing demand for cooling is often framed internationally as purely a “mitigation problem,” while for the North, it’s a “necessary adaptation measure.” This revealing hypocrisy demands urgent attention.
Cooling: A Human Imperative
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 2000 and 2019, heat exposure contributed to approximately 489,000 global deaths, with India alone accounting for over 20,000 heat-related fatalities during this period. While extreme heat is increasingly recognized as a significant health threat in the Global South, mortality and morbidity rates aren’t solely determined by rising temperatures. They reflect a critical shortage of protective infrastructure, including thermally secure housing, dependable electricity, and well-equipped public health systems. In 2022, while most healthcare facilities in high-income countries had reliable power, nearly a billion people in lower-middle and low-income countries were served by facilities with intermittent or no electricity. In South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 12% and 15% of health centers, respectively, lacked electricity, and only half of SSA hospitals reported a reliable power supply.
Without adequate energy infrastructure, providing critical services like neonatal care, climate-controlled emergency rooms, and vaccine refrigeration becomes incredibly challenging, as they all depend on stable cooling systems. During severe heat, countries like Kenya, Ghana, and Burkina Faso have seen sharp increases in cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal conditions—illnesses that cannot be safely treated in overheated, underpowered facilities. Beyond healthcare, a lack of cooling access also compromises workplace safety and significantly reduces labor productivity. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that in 2020, over 70% of the global workforce was exposed to excessive heat, leading to 23 million occupational injuries and nearly 19,000 deaths. These devastating impacts disproportionately affected impoverished countries in Africa, South Asia, and Arab States, where informal employment is prevalent, and workers often lack health insurance and access to cooled, ventilated workspaces.
In India, nearly 80% of the workforce is employed in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and street vending, all of which involve strenuous outdoor activities. Recognizing this extreme vulnerability, several Indian states and cities have developed Heat Action Plans (HAPs) that include early warning systems, information sharing, heat shelters, and public awareness campaigns. However, the effectiveness of these plans is often hampered by insufficient funding, limited coordination between institutions, and weak legal frameworks. Consequently, millions of workers remain at high risk of heat-related illnesses and income loss. Addressing these interconnected challenges in the Global South demands that heat resilience be integrated as a core development priority through policies focusing on stronger labor protections, targeted social safety nets, and robust, well-funded heat action plans.
Climate Justice Must Take Precedence Over Mere Efficiency
Developed countries have long benefited from extensive heating systems, built upon decades of unrestrained emissions and generous public funding. Today, developing nations face a similar, urgent need for cooling, but under far more difficult circumstances: limited financial resources, pervasive energy poverty, and intense international pressure to decarbonize. In 2022, global carbon emissions from cooling amounted to one billion tonnes annually, still four times lower than heating-related emissions, which are primarily concentrated in the Global North. However, worldwide cooling demand is projected to triple by 2050, with India alone expected to see an astounding eightfold increase from 2020 levels.
In a world grappling with carbon constraints, efficient and sustainable cooling solutions are undeniably crucial. Yet, the persistent focus on “efficiency” often overlooks the fact that such interventions demand substantial upfront capital, access to advanced technology, and robust institutional support. As low-income nations already face immense hurdles due to economic and energy poverty, without significant investments in public infrastructure and financial assistance from wealthier nations, effective cooling will remain out of reach for billions in the Global South. Bridging this critical gap is essential to prevent needless deaths, protect livelihoods, and build climate-resilient public systems. Therefore, cooling must not be viewed as a climate burden to be limited, but as a non-negotiable development right—a cornerstone for fostering equity and enabling true adaptation in a warming world.