With increasingly high temperatures and increasingly dry summers, the government has just presented its plan to anticipate future waves of severe heat.
“15 key actions to deal with heat waves”, starting this summer in France. This is what has just been presented to France Infothis Thursday, June 8, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, Christophe Béchu.
While the evolution of temperatures shows no sign of stabilization in the years to come, worse it suggests an inevitable increase, the government wishes to better prevent the risks associated with the heat wave.
Objective: “Support all French people, especially the most vulnerable” at a time when global warming is disrupting the lives of billions of people. It is therefore through 15 measures that the executive wishes to “anticipate the risks” which weigh “on drinking water supplies, on forests and on farms” and “to protect the elderly, children, workers and Farmers”.
Measures for the general public
Six in number, they aim to raise awareness in the wider world about the fight against global warming and to introduce new tools.
They thus consist of a presentation of “works achievable and the behavior to adopt in his home”, in the event of a “heat wave” for example.
The plan also includes offering “the good gestures to adopt for the holders of animals” and “the reflexes of prevention on the risk of drowning”. Still at the level of the preventionthere will be “broadcasts of prevention messages in transport”. In the event of very hot weather, “travellers will be informed of the sanitary risks“, but also of the “risk of forest fires“. They will be told the “good habits to adopt in airports, train stations”, or even on “road networks”, in addition to a guide aimed at limiting the impact of heat waves.
FR-Alert, the message alert system “will integrate the risks associated with heat waves. An SMS with the right behaviors will be sent to the inhabitants of the territories concerned”, promises the ministry.
Reinforcement is planned on the side of RTE and Enedis to strengthen the as of this summer “the means of surveillance and intervention by deploying in particular emergency teams during periods of heat waves and drought” with the aim of “d ‘avoid power cuts’.
Finally and still aimed at the general public, Christophe Béchu wishes to list “the cool islands and public fountains in the municipalities by the prefectures.
Four measures for “vulnerable” people
The universal national service (SNU) will see its field of action widened. On the set of France Info, the minister explains that young people “will be mobilized to encourage vulnerable people to register on the nominative registers kept by the municipalities”. They will also be able to “carry out actions to raise public awareness of the causes of global warming”.
The Ministry of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities “will seize the guardianship judges and legal representatives” with the aim of “carrying out awareness-raising actions”, report our colleagues. The purpose of this measure is to “encourage curators and guardians to pay particular attention to people benefiting from a measure of protection and who are isolated and to ensure that they are registered in the municipal registers”.
ud83dudd34 Heatwave: the Minister for Ecological Transition announces a ‘heat plan’ u27a1ufe0f “The young people of the SNU can be mobilized” to help fragile people register in the municipal registers, announces Christophe Béchu, who is also launching an experiment with La Poste pic.twitter.com/ErPPNMEO7o
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) June 8, 2023
After several scandals in recent summers of high temperatures in schools, the government announces “a check of the rooms and premises refreshed near colleges and high schools” which “will be carried out every year in each academy”. This is to “minimize thermal discomfort in school buildings during hot weather”, assures the government.
The goal: to avoid “exam postponements in hot weather due to thermal discomfort in school buildings”. It will be a question of finding buildings large enough near schools “to accommodate the patent or baccalaureate tests”. If necessary, credits may be reserved for their rental. It is therefore not planned to develop the buildings over the long term but more to find specific solutions when the temperatures become unmanageable.
Measures for businesses and cultural players
The ministry also provides in its plan for measures aimed at “workers and businesses” as well as “athletes and spectators of cultural events”.
This will once again involve the publication of a guide “for businesses”, in particular “to improve the temperature in offices” in addition to an “intensification of labor inspection controls” for “ support companies in taking into account the heat risk”.
Regarding cultural events and in the event of an announced heat wave, “event organizers will be summoned by the department prefects to adapt their organization and put in place the measures which will have been discussed upstream”, assures Cristophe Béchu.
Finally, the prefectures will reserve the right to be able to cancel certain events in the event of a risk linked to heat waves.
