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Thousands gathered in Paris after a record-breaking heatwave swept across France this summer, rallying behind a call to action that has since drawn more than 55,000 signatures, including representatives from 1,200 organizations, from local groups to national networks such as 350.org.
Firefighters, parents, tenants and farmers joined the mobilization through the “On veut vivre!” (We want to live!) campaign, which took shape as activists confronted the scale of climate impacts unfolding across the country and in their own lives.
Around 8,000 people gathered at Place de la Republique, holding up emergency blankets that have become a symbol of the season's extreme heat.
Designed to keep people warm in a crisis, the foil sheets were instead taped to windows across France this summer, in a desperate bid to keep the heat out of homes.
For the 1,200 organizations involved, one message stood out: last summer's scorching heat serves as a warning ahead of the presidential election. While the groups acknowledge the budgetary pressures weighing on France, they insist the ecological transition remains spending that shouldn't be cut.
The manifesto points to several possible solutions, including a tax on superprofits from arms and fossil fuel companies or a new climate tax on high fortunes.
With the presidential vote just months away, organizers also aim to ramp up pressure on the government over the 2027 budget. Many still recall the 20% cut to the Green Fund in the summer of 2026, made in the middle of a heat wave.
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