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By Hugh Cameron
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A record-breaking heatwave in Europe has sparked a firestorm over whether countries should devote resources toward cooling buildings and breach longstanding taboos as they attempt to cope.
In France, heat linked to dozens of deaths has ignited a politicized battle over whether the country should rethink its longstanding reservations about air-conditioning, or “clim.” The French right has called for subsidized expansion of cooling systems, striking rare common ground with some green policy advocates. While traditionally opposed—instead advocating for insulation over energy-intensive cooling—members of the latter have recently acknowledged that a limited rollout may now be necessary.
This nationwide push, dubbed "plan clim*,*" has been spearheaded by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, which is advocating for air conditioning in all schools and hospitals. A spokesperson for the party told Le Monde that the plan also includes €20 billion ($22.8 billion) in state-backed, interest-free loans to help tens of millions of households install AC systems.
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For reference, the country has sent over €6 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, according to the latest estimates from the Kiel Institute, though this places below some of its European peers like Germany (€24.2 billion) and far behind the U.S. (€64.6 billion).
Europe Endures Record Heatwave
France's weather agency, Meteo-France, said that Tuesday was the hottest day recorded since 1947, and most of the country remains subject to “red vigilance” warnings over dangerously high temperatures.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Aemet agency said that both Monday and Tuesday marked the hottest June days on record, with a number of locations seeing temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F).
The United Kingdom likewise broke its June records on three consecutive days this week, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), as several other countries across Western and Central Europe reported near-all-time highs.
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Experts have warned that the heat poses a serious risk to individuals, and one Spanish monitoring agency, cited in the New York Times, said upwards of 200 deaths could be attributed to the adverse conditions.
In addition to extreme weather warnings and calls to stay indoors, governments have implemented several measures to prevent further deaths or injuries, with schools shuttering across the U.K., sporting events canceled, and the French government restricting alcohol consumption.
Heatwave Sparks Debate Over AC in France
The heatwave has caused lawmakers in France to begin debating the costs and benefits of widespread installation of cooling systems.
Unlike in the U.S., the majority of French homes and schools are not equipped with AC, with hospitals only partially cooled.
And the populist right has seized on this issue amid the record-breaking heat.
“It is absurd to have people die because of the heat,” Le Pen said this week, as quoted in the Financial Times. “If I am elected president, I will put into place a massive air-conditioning plan, starting in places with the most vulnerable populations—hospitals, care homes and schools.”
Left-wing leaders, like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have rejected such proposals on the grounds that this would exacerbate the climate issues behind the worsening weather patterns.
“We must absolutely not install air conditioning everywhere; that would only make things worse,” the leader of the La France Insoumise (“France Unbowed”) party, said last week.
But others, such as Greens leader and presidential candidate Marine Tondelier, have said that the situation now calls for rethinking the country’s long-standing opposition to AC.
On Wednesday, Tondelier told the French TV channel BFM that AC, while “not necessary a few years ago,” was “becoming so.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Gray R. Thomas
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