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ANALYSIS: Why are the French resistant to air conditioning?

During the most recent heatwave, when temperatures soared and 'danger to life' warnings were issued - the political conversation during to air conditioning. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen proposed a 'grand plan for air conditioning' , but many politicians on the left and the centre opposed her - and their attitudes are not unusual in France. AC remains uncommon in private homes - only around 25 percent of households have air conditioning, while 55 percent of stores and 64 percent of offices do, according to a 2020 study . These are pretty average statistics for Europe, but nothing compared to a country like the US where around 90 percent of households have an AC. The reasons are both practical and cultural - some French people view AC as a symbol of excess or a tool that only 'urban elites' enjoy, while others believe that it is bad for your health. Then of course there are environmental concerns. Advertisement Heating planet The simple fact is that it's getting hotter - global temperatures are rising and across Europe heatwaves are becoming longer, more frequent and more intense . While southern French cities like Nice or Montepellier have been designed for the heat - with narrow shady streets, thick walls and shutters and plenty of shady public spaces - northern cities like Paris and Lille have not. Paris is especially badly adapted for the heat with its wide unshaded boulevards and iconic zinc rooftops that trap heat within buildings, turning top-floor apartments into ovens. READ ALSO : Paris ranked European city with highest risk for heat-related death✎ Many towns that simply had no need for air conditioning in the past are now being forced to think about installing it - although that isn't always easy within historic buildings . Health worries There's no doubt that extreme heat brings health risks - some 400 people died in France in a two-week heatwave in August 2023 and 5,000 excess deaths were recorded between June 1st and September 15th 2023, of which 1,500 were attributed to the heat. But there is a widespread belief in France - and other European countries - that AC brings its own problems, causing sore throats, colds and other illnesses. "I spent an exchange semester in South Korea, where they have air conditioning everywhere you go. The temperature changes often and it happened to me that I got sick,' Zoé Larroque, a young French journalist, told The Local. "But that could have been a placebo effect. I'm not sure. I've heard that it can be all in your head." Advertisement Frédéric Le Guillou, president of the French Respiratory Health Association told Le Dauphiné libéré : "Above all, it is crucial to regularly change the AC filters at home and in your car. "Most of the time, it's misuse or poor maintenance that causes symptoms." Excessive use of AC causes the air to become very dry, which can irritate your respiratory tract or eyes, necessitating extra hydration. Environmental factor But by far the biggest concern about AC is its environmental impact. Air conditioning units are heavy consumers of electricity, while the chemicals used inside the coolers can also cause environmental damage if not properly disposed of. Advertisement Worldwide, air conditioning accounts for 7 percent of global electricity and 3 percent of carbon emissions, according to a 2024 report by Our World in Data. And these numbers are expected to grow drastically due to global warming and rising incomes. 'I think air conditioning is accustoming us to the easy, short-term solution without finding better, durable solutions,' says Anna Moudoumbou, who called air conditioning an "ecological disaster" while walking through the Parisian heat with her daughter. 'Also, if we look at us in Europe and other industrialised countries, not only do we have air conditioning but we also use heating, which is harmful too,' Moudoumbou added. 'This is different in warmer places within Africa, where they only use air conditioning.' Meanwhile her daughter admitted that she enjoys air conditioning. 'I'm going to sound a little selfish but sometimes I need to cool off. So while we wait for better solutions to be found, I need air conditioning to keep me cool,' Armance Mbella said. Advertisement Then there's the more immediate concern that air conditioning units emit a lot of heat and therefore warm up the general environment, especially in a city where heat gets trapped and creates the 'urban heat sink' effect . In a city like Paris, the widespread use of air conditioning during a heatwave can further warm up the city by more than 2C, according to a 2020 report. France's minister for ecological transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher also highlighted this in response to Le Pen's plan, saying: "When you cool a room, you're necessarily heating another area. You're heating up the streets, increasing hot spots." She added: "We need to offer air conditioning to vulnerable people or those in high-risk groups, in order to give them a break. On the other hand, we mustn't do it everywhere, otherwise we run the risk of warming up the country and so it's a bad solution." The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the worldwide demand for AC could almost triple by 2050, causing the ecological footprint of AC to grow dramatically. What's the alternative? No-one is suggesting that we should just suffer as the summers get hotter - heatwaves are not just uncomfortable, they can be fatal especially for people who are elderly or unwell, or those working outdoors. Most of France's politicians accept that AC is now necessary for certain groups, and in fact it has been a legal requirement for almost 20 years that Ehpad nursing homes for the elderly have air-conditioned rooms. But the incentive is towards using other, more environmentally friendly, methods in addition to AC. Green party leader Marine Tondlier said: "Air conditioning alone won't be enough. It's imperative to make progress on greening cities and thermal insulation of housing." For Green MP Sandrine Rousseau, air conditioning in certain buildings "seems inevitable. But before that, there's thermal renovation", she added, referring to the need for "a shutter plan" and "a fan plan": "there are a huge number of buildings, public buildings that don't have shutters", which she believes can "insulate against the heat". "The objective must remain to have better insulated buildings", said Gabriel Attal, head of Macron's Renaissance group, told Franco Info. "There's a tension between health issues on the one hand, making sure the French don't get too hot, and ecological issues on the other, because that air conditioners consume and emit greenhouse gases.' Traditional French cooler methods include the use of shutters to keep out the sun and fans - free-standing on the floor or ceiling fans - in order to keep air circulating. Cities are also working on greening up public spaces to lower the temperatures, while grants are available for homeowners to install heat pumps - which also cool down homes in the summer - or improve insulation. READ ALSO : How the French stay cool in a heatwave✎