After US tourists mocked France over the lack of air conditioning across the country amid 104 degree temperatures, Audrey Pulvar, deputy mayor of Paris for international relations, claimed the situation was partly America’s fault. “Dear American journalists and social media ‘influencers’: for days, some of you have been criticizing and making fun of Paris because the city does not have A/C in every room…OMG, this is so rich!” Pulvar wrote on social media.
“As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing. Your cities, which are 90 per cent air conditioned, are not unrelated to this,” she added. “So please, enough with the lecture. Just start doing your part,” the post concluded.
For the record, Only about 20% of homes in France have air conditioning. The adoption rate is slightly higher in commercial real estate, but for the residential sector, France lags far behind countries like the US, where residential penetration tops 90%. Several factors explain the low adoption rate - air conditioning has historically been viewed by much of the public and political elite as 'environmentally damaging'.
Many buildings, especially in historic cities like Paris, feature heavy stone facades, shutters, and iconic zinc rooftops that make installing bulky, modern HVAC units aesthetically restricted or physically difficult.
Despite these cultural and structural barriers, severe summer heat waves have caused AC installation numbers to gradually trend upward as French people realize just how fuckin' stupid it is to sacrifice genuine personal comfort for some smoke and mirrors bullshit climate change nonsense.
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