{"id":627448,"date":"2026-06-08T11:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/627448\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:52:11","slug":"france-accused-of-climate-denial-as-green-funding-quietly-shrinks-following-blistering-heatwave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/627448\/","title":{"rendered":"France accused of \u2018climate denial\u2019 as green funding quietly shrinks following blistering heatwave"},"content":{"rendered":"

France\u2019s dwindling climate funds have been thrown into the limelight, following the country\u2019s record-breaking May heat. <\/p>\n

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Last month, the country sweltered under a powerful heat dome<\/a>, with weather agency M\u00e9t\u00e9o France declaring that new monthly highs had been logged at 352 weather stations. The highest temperature of 37.1\u00b0C was registered near Hossegor, close to Biarritz, on Monday 25 May. <\/p>\n

The unusually scorching temperatures were linked to a slew of deaths, including a 53-year-old runner who died<\/a> during a race in Paris. <\/p>\n

Scientists say the \u201cunprecedented\u201d heatwave had a one in 1,000 chance of happening at this time of the year, based on records dating back to 1979. But one expert warns that the intense heat has \u201cthe fingerprints of climate change all over it\u201d. <\/p>\n

Friederike Otto, a professor of Climate Science at Imperial College London, says the science is very clear: \u201cClimate change makes these heatwaves hotter, longer and far more frequent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe climate we\u2019re living in today is simply not the one we grew up with, and our buildings and infrastructure are woefully unprepared for what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was France prepared for the heatwave?<\/p>\n

France has been bracing for extreme heat for years, particularly in cities like Paris that often fall victim to the urban heat island effect<\/a>. This is where city infrastructure such as concrete and asphalt absorbs heat, keeping outdoor temperatures high.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the \u2018Paris at 50\u00b0C\u2019 initiative saw two arrondissements help prepare residents for a future of intense heat by bringing together urban planners, health experts, scientists and public authorities to assess vulnerabilities across key sectors including housing, healthcare, energy and public space.<\/p>\n

A review of the exercise found that extreme heat poses a serious threat to public health in France, particularly among vulnerable communities. Infrastructure such as the metro and rail lines was also found to be at risk from rising temperatures.<\/p>\n

Efforts to remove heat-trapping materials such as asphalt and parking spaces have transformed Paris in recent years, paving the way for more trees and plants that provide shade and help improve air quality.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s flagship Green Fund has been helping communities to adapt to climate change, already providing financial support to more than 25,000 projects carried out by more than 13,000 actors in the territories, including more than 11,000 municipalities in continental France and overseas. <\/p>\n

France accused of \u2018climate denial\u2019<\/p>\n

The Green Fund\u2019s commitment represents \u20ac4.5 billion in state subsidies and covers energy renovation of local public buildings, improvement of air quality, prevention of floods and restoration of nature. <\/p>\n

However, the fund\u2019s budget has been quietly shrinking – decreasing from \u20ac2.4 billion in 2024 to \u20ac873 million in 2026. <\/p>\n

Marine Tondelier, leader of the country\u2019s green party, shared a screenshot of an article from French news organisation Contexte, which states the Green Fund has seen its spending authorisation cut by \u20ac163 million, or almost 20 per cent of the initial budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter demonstrating its complete lack of preparedness during the eight days of a historic heatwave, here are the government’s climate change adaptation measures,\u201d the politician wrote on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis level of incompetence and stubbornness in the wrong direction amounts to climate denial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in April, France announced it was looking to slash \u20ac4 billion in spending this year to keep its public finances under control, following the economic fallout from the war on Iran.<\/p>\n

According to Le Monde<\/a>, the \u20ac163 million cut to the Green Fund could be released later in the year if needed \u2013 or cancelled outright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France\u2019s dwindling climate funds have been thrown into the limelight, following the country\u2019s record-breaking May heat. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[24873,458,556,1397,5099,819,1103,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-627448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-adaptation-to-climate-change","tag-budget","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-extreme-weather","tag-france","tag-heatwave","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}