France must speed up climate action as watchdog warns current efforts fall short
France must rapidly expand the ambition, scope and speed of its response as the effects of global warming become more severe, the High Council for Climate (HCC), an independent body created in 2018 to assess the government's climate policies, said in its annual report published Thursday.
Mainland France and Corsica have warmed by 2.2C between the periods 1900-1930 and 2016-2025, the report highlighted, and summer temperatures have risen even more sharply, by 2.9C, contributing to increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, like the one currently hitting large parts of the country.
Current Europe heatwave 'impossible' without human-induced climate change
'Dangerous range'
"We are entering a tragic period,” JCC president François Soussana said at the presentation of the report, referring to the heat waves in May and June this year that caused thousands of additional deaths in France.
Climate researcher Valérie Masson-Delmotte said France has entered what she called a "dangerous range", with temperatures above 40C now affecting large parts of the country on a regular basis.
France must “increase the scale of the amount, scope, reach and speed of implementing adaptation measures”, said the report.
The HCC says heatwaves are just one result of climate change, with droughts, wildfires and extreme rainfall becoming more common, bringing increased health, social, economic and environmental consequences.
France unprepared for new climate
The country's infrastructure, land planning and economic activity “had been developed and were set up for a climate that no longer exists”, said Masson-Delmotte, who worked on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN climate science panel.
The HCC says current adaptation measures are inadequate to face the new climate reality, as homes become dangerously hot, students at schools and universities are unable to study and cities have too few cool public spaces for vulnerable people to seek relief.
The agricultural sector has yet to make climate adaptation a sufficient priority despite repeated climate-related shocks.
“Current adaptation efforts favour incremental, technology-based solutions that address some impacts while worsening or shifting risks onto others, creating a recurring, systemic risk of maladaptation,” said Masson-Delmotte.
What to do?
The watchdog offers six recommendations that the government must respond to within the next six months.
These include extending the time frame for official heatwave plans, to cover May through to September, as well as introducing a temperature and humidity threshold beyond which outdoor work would become unsafe.
Other proposals include modifying energy performance certificates for buildings to include assessments of summer comfort, instead of just recording heat loss in winter.
The report also recommends upgrading hospitals, care facilities, schools and universities with shaded and greener outdoor spaces, improved ventilation, window coverings, ceiling fans and permanent cooling systems where appropriate.
While air conditioning may be necessary in some cases, the HCC says the priority should be on installing heat pumps to “reduce unwanted consequences”.
Decarbonisation is key
But adaptation alone will not be enough. Cutting greenhouse gas emissions remains essential to limit future climate impacts.
Without decarbonisation efforts, “heatwaves could become five times more frequent in 2050 and ten times in 2100, which would be intolerable,” warned Soussana.
Ten years after the Paris Climate agreement, in which countries agreed to cut emissions to keep global temperatures under 2C higher than pre-industrial levels, France has made progress, but “it is completely insufficient”, said Soussana.
Emissions in France fell by 2.1 percent in 2025, a slower rate than the previous year, and not nearly fast enough, according to the HCC, which says annual reductions will need to exceed over 4 percent to remain on track.
Current efforts inadequate
Current climate policies will not get there, according to the HCC. There is not enough funding and some recent policy reversals, particularly on water management and land development, risk undermining progress.
The report calls for stronger guarantees that the investment needed for the green transition will be delivered, including doubling funding for decarbonisation and expanding the green fund, which was established in 2023 to support local energy transition efforts.
Sector-specific policies should be brought into line with climate goals, while promoting greater restraint in transport and agriculture, the two top sources of emissions in France, accounting for 34 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
The HCC also calls for a "fair transition" to avoid widening inequalities and climate vulnerabilities.
Support schemes such as MaPrimeRénov', which helps homeowners improve energy efficiency and France's social leasing scheme for electric vehicles are too small to meet demand.
(with AFP)