{"id":346268,"date":"2025-08-15T10:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346268\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T10:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:16:14","slug":"heat-wave-is-it-right-wing-to-have-air-conditioning-in-france-it-is-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346268\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat wave: Is it right wing to have air conditioning? In France, it is | Climate"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a politically polarized France, where every issue quickly sparks heated debate, a new point of division has emerged these days: air conditioning. The country, experiencing its second heat wave of the summer <\/a>this week with temperatures exceeding 42\u00b0C (108\u00b0F), has traditionally been reluctant to embrace air conditioning due to energy costs and environmental impact. However, increasingly frequent heat waves are breaking down this resistance.<\/p>\n

The divide is evident in the press: \u201cFrance is, absurdly, against air conditioning,\u201d ran the economic daily Les Echos. Atlantico wrote that \u201cenvironmentalists have deprived France of air conditioning.\u201d Local outlet Ouest France called it \u201cair conditioning: an individual solution but a collective failure,\u201d while Lib\u00e9ration labeled it \u201can ecological contradiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

France is among the countries least prepared for heat waves like those this summer. Only 25% of households have any cooling system (including electric fans), and just 7% have an air conditioning unit. The main issue is in homes, but what is more worrying is that very few public buildings have cooling systems, including schools and hospitals.<\/p>\n

Only 7% of public schools \u2014 out of around 45,000 nationwide \u2014 are equipped with any cooling system to relieve the heat. At the end of June, during the first heat wave of the summer, classes had to be suspended in over a thousand schools for this reason. In Paris, many metro lines, especially commuter trains, do not have air conditioning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The extreme temperatures recorded in recent days, and the clear evidence that such extremes will increase, have sparked political debate. The left opposes widespread air conditioning installation for environmental reasons, while the government acknowledges the need to equip schools and hospitals. The far right, led by Marine Le Pen, who has most strongly advocated preparing the country for what lies ahead, is calling for a \u201cmajor national air conditioning plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several members of her party, the National Rally (Rassemblement National), have been pushing for air conditioning in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes for weeks. \u201cPublic services are unable to function because they don\u2019t have air conditioning, unlike dozens of countries around the world,\u201d Marine Le Pen protested a few weeks ago during the first heat wave of the summer. \u201cWith the temperatures we\u2019re facing, air conditioning is essential to protect the most vulnerable,\u201d defended National Rally deputy Yoann Gillet yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"SeveralSeveral air conditioning units in a building in Marseille.Godong (Universal Images Group\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR) has proposed a law to make it mandatory to equip the aforementioned spaces with air conditioning to \u201cprotect vulnerable people.\u201d The government acknowledges that it is necessary in some cases but believes that widespread installation could worsen climate change<\/a>. The left agrees that it is needed for vulnerable groups but sees air conditioning as a temporary fix that does not address the root cause of rising temperatures<\/a>: climate change. Instead, they propose better building insulation and more green spaces in cities.<\/p>\n

According to Ademe, the French agency for ecological transition, by 2050 most buildings in France, whether old or historic, will not be adapted to the temperatures to come. An Opinion Way survey for France Energie found that 75% of French people are reluctant to install any cooling system at home, citing environmental concerns and energy costs.<\/p>\n

The problem of energy costs is not limited to summer. In winter, to save energy, some establishments and homes do not turn on heating. Other obstacles include the age of many buildings, some of which are historical monuments, where even minimal work that alters the fa\u00e7ade is prohibited.<\/p>\n

Without air conditioning, the French have been cooling off as best they can: in crowded, free-access pools while temperatures remain high, and in newly designated swimming areas along the Seine. In some Parisian municipalities, such as Chelles, residents have even defied bans on entering the river, despite water pollution, because it was the only way to escape the heat.<\/p>\n

The memory of the 2003 heat wave, which killed nearly 14,000 people in August \u2014 mostly elderly individuals living alone \u2014 still looms large. The country was unprepared then, as such extreme events were less frequent.<\/p>\n

This summer, the early heat wave has caused a spike in drownings in France. From early June to the end of July, a total of 702 people drowned, 50% more than in the same period last year.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople try cool off in the Fontaine of the Trocadero garden (Fontaine du Jardin du Trocadero) in Paris, France on July 2, 2025. Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed (Anadolu\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a politically polarized France, where every issue quickly sparks heated debate, a new point of division has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,1411],"class_list":{"0":"post-346268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-paris"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115032266274916072","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}