On 18 July 2024, the European Parliament confirmed Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for a second term. In her statement to the parliament and also in her political guidelines for the next European Commission from 2024-2029, von der Leyen outlined her priorities for the next five years. While heating and cooling (H&C) were not mentioned explicitly, reaching many of the targets set by the President-elect will necessitate decarbonisation of the H&C sector.
Read our open letter calling for a strategic action plan on heating and cooling.
As research commissioned by the Cool Heating Coalition shows, buildings must be for the most part decarbonised by 2040 in order to meet the 2050 economy-wide goal of climate neutrality. Significant policy gaps currently mean that the EU buildings sector is not on track for the required decarbonisation by 2040. In her speech, von der Leyen committed to enshrining a 90% decarbonisation target for 2040 in law. Given the current policy gaps faced by the buildings sector, the Cool Heating Coalition welcomes the legal commitment, as it will provide renewed ambition to address the policy gaps in the buildings sector.
Von der Leyen also highlighted the importance of renewable energy for reducing dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and putting renewable energy at the heart of EU security. Almost half of EU energy demand is for H&C, and over 30% of EU households use gas to heat their homes. There are still over 90 million gas and oil boilers in the EU and a new boiler is installed every eight seconds. To address the EU’s over-reliance on fossil fuel imports, decarbonising H&C will be crucial.
Von der Leyen also spoke about the appointment of a commissioner responsible for housing, and the development of a European Affordable Housing Plan “to look at all the drivers of the [housing] crisis and to help unlock the private and public investment needed.” Plans to address the housing crisis are also echoed in the political guidelines which mention a revision of State aid rules to “enable housing support measures, especially for affordable energy-efficient and social housing“ and a quick roll-out of the Social Climate Fund. Delivering the right combination of insulation/fabric efficiency in combination with the provision of renewable H&C systems should be integral to an affordable housing strategy.
The political guidelines also position industrial competitiveness as the main driver of climate action for the next Commission, with plans to publish a Clean Industrial Deal to “decarbonise and bring down energy prices” within the first 100 days of the new term, and a commitment to scale-up and prioritise investment in clean energy infrastructure and technologies.
A clean H&C sector provides great opportunities to boost competitiveness and enhance skills: Europe needs to reskill at least 50% of its current heating system installers to be able to work with heat pump technologies alone. A policy environment that accelerates H&C decarbonisation will also provide a boost to renewable heat technologies with a strong EU manufacturing base such as solar thermal. Decisive action on H&C will be crucial, as no industrial deal will be truly “clean” without decarbonised, renewable and affordable H&C.
