Huge wildfires in Gironde, in the Landes and in the Var. Repeated heatwaves in quick succession across the country. Severe drought seriously affecting agriculture. This summer, France has been severely tested by the elements.
Last winter, the country had already gone through several months punctuated by a series of weather systems and storms (Goretti, Ingrid, Nils, Pedro), causing major flooding across France.
With only a few months to go before the next presidential election, environmental issues are expected to take an unprecedented place in the political debate. Historically championed by the left, the topic has now become unavoidable, pushing the right and the far right to get to grips with it.
Because today, "given the delays and the seriousness of the situation, France no longer has a choice: it must adapt, and quickly", warns the association Réseau Action Climat, which questions the action of recent successive governments, which "have not taken the necessary measures to adapt the country to the effects of climate change".
And yet, warnings have been issued for several years now. As early as 2013, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) stated that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal and, since the 1950s, many of the changes observed are unprecedented over decades to millennia".
