"We want to live." France climate protests denounce government inaction.
After a summer when climate breakdown became a lived reality in France, with climate fires scorching 100 000 hectares and even two hectares of Sark, this autumn French citizens are mobilising for urgent action against Macron's inaction.
"We are being asked to live our lives as if nothing was wrong: study to feed the machine, work to keep it running, and continue consuming to keep it afloat. We refuse."
La jeunesse du mouvement du 26 septembre
Elly, 17. Seyma, 15. Mathis, 16... After the last weeks of the school term spent sweltering in dangerously hot classrooms, secondary school pupils, sixth-formers, university students, have joined the youth climate movement starting with the march on Sept. 26. Slamming "30 years of summits, misleading statements, unkept promises, constantly pushed back targets," and refusing to carry on as normal, their "tribune" published by French daily Libération and Vert, le média is simply titled "Nous avons droit à un avenir." We have the right to a future."
From St Malo to Rennes, Cherbourg to Bordeaux, Paris to Marseille, 260 towns and cities called on the government to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and commit to an urgent climate adaptation plan so that: "No town is left alone to fight fire and drought."
As of Sept. 10, the historic level of drought was such that 93 of France's 96 departments still had water use restricted, with 74 at the most critical level of shortage.
"Who could have predicted that more than 7,300 people would die as a result of the heatwave this summer, without anything coming to a stop?"
More than 1000 organisations sign open letter to president Emmanuel Macron.
A 12-year-old disabled girl in her home. A 40-year-old man in the street. With September's updated figures, extreme heat killed 8 124 people in France this summer according to the French Health Authority Santé Publique France - the most fatal summer since 2003. Excess deaths were recorded also in the 45-64 age bracket. Extreme heat sending the body's core temperature above 40°C impacted people with no prior health issues.
Reprising a 2022 speech when Macron asked who could have predicted the climate crisis, in their open letter, march organisers stated: "Who could have predicted that first to die would be those people living in working-class neighbourhoods, families living in uninsulated homes in precarious circumstances, elderly and disabled people left alone, those who work outdoors and those sleeping rough in the streets?"
Among the actions called for by some 1 180 signatory organisations, which includes ecological campaigners from Greenpeace to Friends of the Earth, is the refinancing of the Fond Vert, Green Fund. Introduced to help local authorities finance the ecological transition of their towns, as climate urgency has grown, the government has slashed the Green Fund from €2.5 billion in 2024 to €837 million in 2026.
Meanwhile taxpayers' money funnelled to the weapons industry has rocketed. A €6.7 billion increase in a year has brought France's military budget to €68.5 billion. While the budget for France's own civil protection is under €1 billion. The global weapons industry is the no.1 consumer of fossil fuels, and among the worst offenders for climate-heating carbon emissions.
Place de la République, Paris. 26th September.
Monsieur le Président de la République - "You said we were exaggerating, then that we were 'radicals,' then that we were 'eco-terrorists.'..We are here to hold you to account." open letter | read more
Who could have predicted that farmers would lose between 15% and a third of their harvests, depending on the crop?
Who could have predicted that TotalEnergies would rake in $5.4 billion in a single quarter – 102% more than a year ago – due to the soaring oil prices caused by wars over access to energy and mineral resources?
Since your election, hundreds of thousands of us joined actions: strikes, marches and climate petitions.
- On the roundabouts, when the question of fuel prices made it clear that making ends meet and making the planet liveable are one and the same fight, and that the ecological transition needed cannot be achieved at the expense of our country’s working poor people.
- Alongside those who have been displaced and exiled, as a result of climate breakdown and the economic and military wars waged in the countries where they’re from.
- Against mega-reservoirs, so that water remains a common resource and not the privilege of a few large-scale operations.
- With two million signatures against reintroducing a banned insecticide, because the soil, the rivers and those who work them are not a secondary consideration.
You did not listen. You said we were exaggerating, then that we were 'radicals,' then that we were 'eco-terrorists.'
Meanwhile, you have cut the Green Fund from 2.5 billion euros to 837 million, even though it helps local authorities to protect their citizens.
You have added 6.7 billion to the army's budget alone in a single year. And our entire civil protection budget amounts to less than a billion, with just twelve water-bombing aircraft.
We are not here asking you to sorry on our account. We are here to hold you to account.
26.09 | 260 cities & towns | "For the climate, for the living, for peace and for social justice."
With extreme heat pounding France all summer, hitting even Normandy, Brittany and the Channel Islands, more than 1000 NGOS, associations and organisations marched to protest president Macron's climate inaction. The nationwide demonstration and citizens' assemblies: "Pour le climat, le vivant, la paix et la justice sociale."
29.09 | National strike: Firefighters protest in Paris
With just 12 water-bombing aircraft to fight the climate fires that killed four firefighters and burned an area 10 times the size of Paris, France's firefighting services are on a six-week strike to demand adequate equipment and staffing. Three days of action in Paris are planned from Sept 27-29, while civil service unions, including teachers, have also joined the call for a national public sector strike on 29th September.
29.09 | Guernsey People's Emergency Briefing
In the Bailiwick of Guernsey the Clean Earth Trust is hosting a People's Emergency Briefing. The screening is an urgent call for the UK government to provide a national emergency response to the climate crisis - and to discuss local impacts and responses after the summer of record-breaking heat. Sark saw a major fire, while fires also broke out on Guernsey's south coast cliffs and at Fontaine Vinery.
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