Are the French running away from air conditioning? They're right

[This article was first published on our site on July 13, 2025 and republished on August 14.]

France has experienced its first heatwave of 2025, and with it came sleepless nights, gallons of sweat, and an ultra-polarized political debate over air conditioning.

To summarize, the National Rally, a party for which the climate crisis (the phenomenon that makes heatwaves longer, more violent, and more intense in France) is barely an issue, has just proposed a “grand air conditioning plan.” On the left and in the center, many political figures oppose this simplistic solution, as do a large portion of the French population.

Coming from a generally cool and rainy country, the UK, I am culturally conditioned to systematically rejoice in the warmth and sunshine – “so lovely!”

But now, after spending a few summers in Paris (including the summer of 2019, which broke all heatwave records), I understand the full horror of a heat wave . It's a phenomenon that can be deadly, but even for those of us lucky enough to be healthy, have a roof over our heads, and work indoors, it's beyond simple inconvenience.

The “tropical nights” where it becomes almost impossible to sleep, the burning heat reflected by the asphalt exposed to the sun, public transport where the temperature is like a sauna, the pollution levels that spiral out of control, making the air thick and toxic, the fatigue and bad mood that accumulate over the course of these excessively hot days… Living through a heatwave in the city is overwhelming.

And even more so in a city like Paris, which simply wasn't designed for high temperatures. The streets in the center of the capital are even expressly oriented to avoid drafts—the original idea being to protect passersby from the icy winter wind.

However, the French avoid air conditioning, and they are right to do so.

Of course, there are exceptions: for people at risk, air conditioning can be a matter of life or death. For nearly twenty years, French law has required nursing homes to have air-conditioned rooms. During heatwaves, municipalities set up "cooled rooms" open to anyone who wants them. Elderly people, and more broadly, vulnerable people, can request to be taken there free of charge.

With rising temperatures, there is no doubt that these measures will have to be extended to other categories of residents or communities, for example schools and hospitals.

But for all other audiences, the French are right to resist air conditioning.

First, because air conditioning is far from the only solution to excessive heat. Experiencing 40°C in Paris is nothing like 40°C in Nice. This is because Nice was designed for heat: the narrow streets of Old Nice are shaded, the squares are planted with trees, Italian-style arcades provide shade, and the oldest buildings have 50-centimeter-thick walls and small openings.

Paris wasn't designed for heat, and for good reason: until recently, it was never very hot. But the difference in how it feels in Nice and Paris clearly shows how a city's architecture and urban planning play a role in this.

In the capital's defense, Paris City Hall has tackled the problem with a vast "vegetation" program, in other words, planting trees designed to lower the temperature. Does planting trees seem trivial to you in the face of deadly heatwaves? On a scorching day, go from a shaded alleyway to full sun, and you'll easily distinguish between bearable and unbearable.

Franck Lirzin, engineer, published Paris facing climate change , a stimulating work which proposes modifications to be made to buildings and public spaces so that the city remains livable even at 50°C.

Many of his suggestions, delicate and costly, would have many obstacles to overcome to be implemented, starting with the defenders of Parisian architectural heritage, and in particular zinc roofs, which are as emblematic as they are energy inefficient.

Heatwaves already disproportionately affect the poorest: those living in poorly insulated homes, the homeless, and workers who often have precarious jobs performing arduous outdoor tasks. If those who can afford it acquire air conditioning, the wealthiest will have no further incentive to push for changes in their habits.

But there's no need for engineers to make certain adjustments. Simple protections against heat, such as installing shutters and fans in every home, and work to improve insulation can make all the difference: the state can provide financial assistance in these areas, as it already does for cold insulation projects.

Behaviors must also evolve to adapt, following the example of those countries that have long experienced high temperatures: during the hottest hours, workers take a nap, and the working day is shifted to start earlier and end later.

This is already the case for workers exposed to heat risk in France, where a law [which came into force on July ¹ ] requires employers to adapt work arrangements to reduce exposure during the hottest hours. New measures should logically strengthen these provisions.

However, the widespread use of air conditioning only serves to further increase outside temperatures (according to a study carried out in Paris, its systematic use can directly raise the air temperature by 2°C) and also increase _CO2 emissions, which it is urgent to reduce, but that is not all: air conditioning also isolates us from the extremely dangerous situation in which our planet finds itself.

The crushing heat felt at the peak of a heatwave is frightening, climate change is terrifying. We are right to be afraid of both—all that remains is to turn that fear into a driving force.

Living in an air-conditioned home that we leave in an air-conditioned car to go to an air-conditioned office or shopping mall is nothing like making us insensitive to climate change. But it won't spare us : ignoring heat waves is a direct path to hell.