Make it make sense!

[Scorpiobabe]

For some time now I have been careful when I buy new or replacement products. I look specifically at where they are manufactured. When we had the first heatwave this year I looked into purchasing (very reluctantly) an air conditioning unit. When I looked there were almost none available to buy, but of those that people had been buying nearly all were manufactured in China, even those with UK brand names.
Given that climate change is causing these heat waves it seems absolutely ridiculous that European countries, many of whom are investing highly in renewable energy, should be outsourcing manufacture to those countries with the worst record when it comes to global-warming emissions.
Putting it simply, those countries that are doing most damage and causing us to overheat are also the countries manufacturing, often with dirty energy, the products we now seek to be cool.

Today I was looking at a small appliance, sold under a French brand, which I found out is manufactured in. you guessed it, China. (Obviously, I haven't bought it.)
As I write this France is experiencing awful wildfires and evacuating hundreds of thousands of residents. The wildfires are attributed to global warming. The three countries that contribute most to global warming are, China, the United States, and India.

I know this is an extremely complex subject, but as mothers surely we all want to secure the best future for the planet our children and grandchildren will live on when our time is done.
So why are we buying products made with dirty energy in countries producing the most pollution attributed to global warming?

Because it's cheap. And people want cheap, and companies want profit.

But countries don’t decide where the products being sold are manufactured. That is down to private companies. Is there a company in the UK making air conditioners? I doubt it. Governments try influence companies to set up in their countries, Ireland has been pretty successful on the pharmaceutical and med device front, but they don’t control those companies.

Like all the solar panels being made in China to put all over the fields here….

The world is fucked because people don’t want to stop ‘progress’ or cheap flights or data centres for all the AI we ‘need.’

But also … air conditioning.
It’s just using more energy to make the situation worse in the long run.

One reason some countries have higher emissions is exactly because we outsource manufacturing. But given how bad air con is for the environment, no leg to stand on really.

It doesn't make sense, it makes money.

A fan uses far less energy - both to make and to run, so you'll lower your own carbon footprint as well as that of wherever it's made by getting one of those instead. You could even buy a vintage one that's more likely to be UK built. Combine it with window & blind management and evaporative cooling, and in the UK that should be sufficient for virtually everyone.

Also, we're not all mothers.

So, do not buy it. Now, you are part of the solution.

As far as air conditioners, there are European makes that manufacture in Europe, though you need to hunt them down. One such manufacturer was Italian with exceptional innovative and energy saving design.

Many European countries have invested heavily in renewable energy. Some European countries get a lot of their energy from renewables: Denmark (94%+), Norway (nearly 100%), Iceland (about 80% lucky with their geothermal sources), Sweden (65%+), Portugal (nearly 83%) and Germany (45%).
France gets much of it's energy from nuclear (a whole different argument) but still 95% of it's energy is clean (if you count nuclear as clean).
So the fact France is literally burning when their contribution to global warming is miniscule is heart-breaking.

What's the Italian company?

Olimpia SPlendid (designed and manufactured in Italy) is a brand that is available in the UK.

China has also invested massively in renewables, so one could argue that by buying from there you're helping fund their transition away from coal.

... conversely, one could ague that boosting China's economy contributes to the Russian attacks on Ukraine since China is a strategic and economic enabler for Russia!