France’s record heat wave burns Le Pen’s National Rally

 

France’s record heat wave burns Le Pen’s National Rally

 

The far right’s calls for more air-conditioning aren’t resonating with most voters.

 

June 25, 2026 5:26 pm CET

By Victor Goury-Laffont

https://www.politico.eu/article/frances-record-heat-wave-burns-le-pens-national-rally/

 

PARIS — France’s far-right National Rally should have had an easy time capitalizing on the widespread furor over the government’s handling of this week’s heat wave.

 

But at these temperatures, everyone’s toast.

 

The record-breaking heat has thrust climate change to the forefront of the national debate ahead of next year’s presidential election, forcing the National Rally to confront its previous efforts to downplay the issue.

 

In 2022, then-party leader Marine Le Pen had promised to “turn the page on punitive environmentalism” during her presidential campaign. The next year, she had slammed the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for being overly “alarmist” after it published a report stressing that much more needed to be done to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

 

In terms of solutions, Le Pen and National Rally lawmakers are now reiterating longstanding calls to equip the country with more air-conditioning. But it’s not clear that proposal will play well with the French, given the country’s historic aversion to AC.

 

A survey conducted by pollster Elabe on Monday and Tuesday — which was the hottest day ever recorded in mainland France... until Wednesday — showed that two-thirds of respondents believe air-conditioning is a short-term solution, and that authorities should focus on measures that won’t exacerbate extreme heat. Fifty percent of National Rally voters shared that view as well.

 

If the heat ever subsides, environmental issues are still likely to play an important role in the upcoming presidential election — especially as French voters increasingly perceive climate change as a matter impacting individual health and well-being, said Elabe head Bernard Sananès.

 

“It will be complicated to avoid it during the next presidential election,” he said.

 

Structural decisions

After a devastating heat wave in August 2003 killed thousands, including many old people left alone during the summer holiday, the French government put in place a plan to better alert and protect citizens from such incidents.

 

Since then, extreme temperatures have become more common in Europe — the planet’s fastest-warming continent. But French voters believe successive governments have been putting climate change on the back burner.

 

Two-thirds of respondents to the Elabe poll said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s administration had mishandled the ongoing crisis, while 53 percent said they believe France “is not at all prepared to cope with this sort of heat wave.”

 

While the government has pushed back against accusations of unpreparedness, ahead of an emergency Tuesday cabinet meeting to discuss the heat wave, Lecornu said he had asked for proposals “for next year, to lay the groundwork for our successors on how to live in this country.” The prime minister’s critics then accused him of kicking the can down the road.

 

There is also the issue of cost. Fighting climate change and adapting to a warmer world will be expensive, and France is already strapped for cash. The country's statistics agency said Thursday that as of the end of April, France was sitting on more than €3.5 trillion of public debt, which amounts to 117.5 percent of gross domestic product.

 

“Preparing the country for this resilience may require more structural decisions,” said Lecornu.

 

Pros and (air)cons

Air-conditioning has become a recurring debate in France during heat waves. And while the French have not traditionally been big fans of AC, the number of households installing cooling systems is growing.

 

National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy, who is responsible for his party’s air-conditioning plan, said in an interview with radio station France Inter that they want the state to pay interest on loans taken out by households or businesses to buy AC units.

 

Tanguy did not specify in the interview how many people would be projected to take advantage of such a scheme. He estimated the plan would cost about €20 billion but noted that figure was unconfirmed.

 

When asked for more details about the program, Tanguy told POLITICO he will hold a press conference next week to discuss it.

 

The French government, however, has repeatedly pushed back against the notion that widespread air-conditioning is a good solution, as it could further increase outdoor temperatures by releasing heat into the streets.

 

Meanwhile, Le Pen, who was the National Rally’s presidential candidate in the last three elections, also found herself trying to justify past remarks on climate change this week.

 

“The IPCC puts forward several scenarios; some are extremely alarmist, whilst others are less so. It is often the media coverage of these scenarios that focuses on the most dire one,” she said in a radio interview on Wednesday. “Given that we have been opposing free trade agreements for the past 20 years, and now that we know that 50 percent of our carbon footprint is linked to imports, we were right.”

 

It is not yet clear whether Le Pen or her protégé Jordan Bardella will represent the National Rally in next year’s presidential election. The party cannot designate a candidate until after Le Pen’s appeal of an embezzlement conviction concludes next month.

 

In February, Bardella, who is 30, said he “belongs to a generation that is perhaps more concerned about and more sensitive to the issue of global warming.”

 

But he did not put forward any new proposals.