France heatwave fuels push for wider air conditioning use
Why it matters: School closures and sweltering hospitals are forcing a rethink of a long-taboo climate adaptation tool.
France’s recent heatwave is driving a sharp shift in attitudes toward air conditioning, long viewed by many in the country as environmentally harmful. As temperatures neared 40 degrees Celsius and France logged its hottest day since records began in 1947, portable cooling units sold out in some stores and pressure grew to install more systems in schools and hospitals. Ecologists party leader Marie Tondelier said some sites now cannot go without air conditioning. France has low household adoption, with about 25% equipped, versus roughly 50% in Spain and Italy and about 90% in the United States and Japan.