French government under fire as hospitals face excess heatwave deaths
"We must fully shed light on the looming, devastating human toll in order to determine political accountability," Marine Tondelier, leader of the French Greens, stated on social media platform X on Sunday morning.
"And some will have to face the consequences."
Clémence Guetté, an MP for hard-left France Unbowed party, also slammed the handling of the heatwave as "a disaster" in an appearance on France 3 television, denouncing the government's "lack of preparedness."
Since last Wednesday, approximately 1,000 excess deaths have been recorded compared to the norm, according to national health agency Santé publique France.
The agency said areas under red alert for heat had been particularly badly affected, and 85 percent of the deaths had been those aged 65 and over.
The sharpest increases, the agency said, involved people dying at home, especially in the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris and its suburbs.
"This observation serves as a reminder of the need for measures of solidarity toward people who are isolated or experiencing profound loneliness, including in highly urbanised areas," the statement said.
'Not a fiasco'
The agency stressed that the figures were preliminary and were likely to be an underestimate.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that since 18 June, emergency responses had risen by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching a cumulative total of 122,000 interventions.
Despite this, he insisted in Le Parisien newspaper that the situation was "not a fiasco."
"We were prepared, contrary to what some politicians are saying."
Health Minister Stephanie Rist said Saturday warned that pressure on already overwhelmed hospital facilities is likely to continue even after temperatures drop.
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The effects of the heatwave for patients with chronic illnesses "can last for several weeks," Rist told La Tribune newspaper.
"But providing reliable figures takes time. Only 60 percent of death certificates are issued electronically. We have to wait for the paper certificates to come in," she said.
The minister said she would then make the figures public "with full transparency" using the "most reliable figures possible".
She also confirmed this week that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had approved an order for 30,000 air conditioners for hospitals. "I have released €100 million to urgently finance cooling equipment," she said.
The heat eased slightly across some parts of France on Sunday after days of punishing temperatures that saw the mercury rising above 40C in many areas.
Drop in 'green' funds
But storms overnight Saturday wreaked havoc in some areas.
In the Aisne department, north of Paris, lightning sparked several fires, including one in Laon that left five people with minor injuries.
Nationwide, electricity provider Enedis reported 63,000 customers without power due to the storms, primarily in the north of the country.
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Weather bureau Météo-France noted on Saturday that this heatwave – a phenomenon intensified by climate change, which is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels – "surpasses the August 2003 event in terms of intensity and is equivalent in terms of duration."
The 2003 heatwave caused some 15,000 deaths, highlighting the unsuitability of many hospitals and nursing homes.
Many have criticised the sharp cut in funding for the so-called Green Fund in recent years, with allocations dropping from €2.5 billion in 2024 to €837.5 million in 2026.
Presidential hopeful Édouard Philippe argued that the Green Fund should be "doubled and refocused on adaptation and air-conditioning in public spaces," pledging that "adapting to global warming will be one of (his) priorities."
The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that heat stress was a 'silent killer' and called on European countries to "implement heat health action plans" to help safeguard health in the face of climate change.