Heat-trap homes; sick people and children stuck in hospitals and schools with temperatures exceeding 95°F; buses and trains changed into furnaces; unbreathable workplaces; power cuts and trains cancelled or out of order… this second heatwave has turned the lives of millions of workers and families into a nightmare.

And how many deaths will it have caused? The 2003 heatwave claimed 15,000 lives. It's still too early to assess the toll of this one but reports from doctors and mortuary services suggest several thousand deaths. Many of these deaths could have been avoided.

Starting with some casualties that occurred in hospitals. Patients being treated for common conditions ended up in intensive care due to hyperthermia. Instead of being safe in hospitals, these patients ended up in danger with temperatures exceeding 86°F in the wards!

The government is very pleased because there hasn't been a mass death toll in nursing homes and because there's at least one air-conditioned room in each facility. But how do bedridden residents cool off? And is it normal that they can't sleep in their overheated rooms?

What happened to the “Solidarity Day” money?

This situation is all the more outrageous given the existence of this so-called “solidarity day” since 2003. The government cancelled a public holiday (Pentecost Monday), asking everyone to work an extra day to contribute to a fund for the elderly. Its specific purpose was to provide air conditioning for nursing homes and hospitals.

This specific day brings in 3 billion euros a year. Over the past 22 years, the state has collected nearly 60 billion euros, enough money to install air-conditioning in all the nursing homes and hospitals in the country. So, where did the money go?

To that question, the ministers replied that action also had to be taken concerning the causes of global warming. In other words, a large portion of that sum went towards subsidies granted to industrial groups to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We don't know whether these subsidies actually reduced them, but what we do know is that they boosted the dividends paid to shareholders at ArcelorMittal and similar companies.

This latest example makes it clear that the state can’t be trusted whatsoever. The priority of those in power isn't to ensure the well-being of the most vulnerable people and the general population, but to make sure that the French capitalists’ businesses run as smoothly as possible.

This is how 270 billion euros are made available to big business every year, money that is needed for useful investments such as air conditioning in schools and public transportation. This is also why the government refuses to require big business to use its profits to fund the climate transition.

Capitalist interests or the fight against climate change, you can't have it both ways!

There are plenty of ideas and technical solutions to help us live with 104°F. It’s the financial resources that are lacking.

Macron talked a lot about “transition”, but what he meant was the transition to a “war economy”, much to the delight of arms dealers. An additional 36 billion euros was approved, bringing the 2024-2030 military spending bill to 436 billion euros.

With that much money, so much could be done to adapt to extreme heat and combat the very real threat of global warming.

But the only logic at work is that of the bourgeoisie, the race for competitiveness, and wars. Today, it's driving all the governments to invest in fighter jets and missiles. Against their destructive headlong rush, we must place our trust in our own capacity to take control of society.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, workers showed that they were the responsible ones. In private companies, they ensured their own safety, often against management orders. In hospitals and schools alike, it was the staff's initiative that made it possible to cope with the situation.  

An ecological shift is not the only necessary move – there has to be a revolution that will allow workers to govern society according to their needs and those of the majority of the population.

Nathalie ARTHAUD