Dozens of climate marches planned in France after a summer marked by heat and fires

The anger of the streets. Dozens of climate marches and rallies are planned for Saturday in France, in the wake of a record summer for heat and fires in France. The organizers are calling in particular for an emergency, adaptation and mitigation plan, as well as fiscal measures. Around 260 mobilizations are listed throughout the territory by the site 26september.org, calling for marches "for the climate, for the living, for peace, for social justice".

“We are not coming to ask you to complain. We are coming to ask you to account,” is written in an open letter to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, published on this site, which claims 51,000 signatures. “No one could ignore it, because everything was written,” recall the signatories. “There is a real risk of environmental amnesia,” also alerts franceinfo Jean-François Julliard, director general of France Nature Environnement (FNE).

This march comes at the end of a record summer in terms of heat in Western Europe, against a backdrop of global warming caused mainly by the combustion of coal, oil and gas. Its promoters are calling for emergency, adaptation and mitigation plans, financed by the taxation of superprofits from fossil fuels and the arms industry, as well as a tax on the wealth of the richest.

A plan soon presented

“This summer alone, more than 8,000 people died in France due to the heatwave. And at least 500,000 hectares of forest burned in the European Union,” said Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in a message published on social networks. “Yet, at this very moment, our political leaders are deliberately choosing to further aggravate this crisis,” she added, affirming to support the marches in France.

In Paris the gathering will take place at Place de la République from 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and will remain static. Several climate marches have taken place in recent years, including a “March of the Century” in March 2019 which brought together more than 300,000 people in the region according to the organizers.

The Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut must submit a national adaptation plan to climate change to the Prime Minister on September 30. This work mobilized numerous ministries on various themes - natural risks, businesses, agriculture, water, etc. - in order to "better prepare for next summer" and "accelerate our adaptation action more generally" according to the minister's office.