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Paris and Chamonix, France – Ibrahim Doukanthi prepares to enter the Canal Saint-Denis. It’s almost noon, and the temperature in the Paris region is approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86F).
He grew up north of Saint-Denis, one of the poorest towns in France, and now lives in La Plaine, meters from the Stade de France, the country’s stadium.
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“The water here is not normal,” he said. “Just because it’s green, you don’t know what’s in there – that’s what makes it scary.”
He has been diving into the tunnel – technically not open to swimmers – to cool off during the recent hot weather.
Like many people living in the larger towns of Paris, which were historically unstable, Doukanthi had to be resourceful in order to keep warm while living in a house without air conditioning.
“What I do is take spray bottles – I call them ‘pshit-pshit’ – fill them with water, spray myself on the floor, then sit in front of a fan,” he said. “It freezes you like crazy.”
Sitting in the shade at the flea market in Saint-Denis, Natifa Segli, a municipal worker, criticized the government’s actions in the burning.
“I don’t think we learned anything from the heat of 2003. Here we are in 2026, and this heat was terrible,” he said. Even at work, we had no place to hide because it was very hot in the offices.”
For Segli, the only permanent solution is to avoid the sun. “We’re going to be in the shade,” he said of the incoming heat, which is expected this weekend.
‘We have nothing to be happy about’
In areas like Saint-Denis, access to shelters is uneven, Louiza Ammari, a childcare worker who lives in public housing, told Al Jazeera.
In his house, the police stopped people from setting up a children’s swimming pool. As renters, his family is not allowed to install air conditioning. Although one of the town’s pools opened free swimming hours, she could not go because they do not allow burkinis.
He said: “We have nothing to do.”
In France, there were another 2,025 deaths last time temperatureweek of June 22 – a week-on-week increase of 30 percent nationwide and 62 percent in the Paris region, according to the World Health Organization.
The high temperature shows the current imbalance, according to Bruno Villalba, professor of political science at AgroParisTech Paris-Saclay, who works on politics and environmental policy.
“The climate is just a sign of people’s insecurity, especially when it comes to housing,” Villalba told Al Jazeera.
Wealthy people can keep their homes, buy air conditioners, eat fresh produce, or even leave the city to go on vacation when it’s too hot, which most people can’t afford.
“It’s up to the government to do something,” Villalba said.
“They tell us, ‘Stay hydrated, stay out of the sun, drink water,'” he said. “The French government did not sufficiently anticipate climate change.”
‘We are not all exposed equally’
There is a misconception of “universalism” when it comes to preventing climate change, said Mael Ginsburger, a professor at the Universite Paris Cite who focuses on the disagreements surrounding climate change.
Although widely recognized, many vulnerable populations have few tools to mitigate climate change.
“We are not equally exposed, just as we are not all equally responsible. There is a huge disparity in carbon emissions,” Ginsburger said. “Not everyone can adapt in the same way, and there are certain groups that face more risks related to mental health, for example.”
Among affluent families in France, 70 percent consider their homes to be well insulated to handle heat, compared to 46 percent of low-income families, according to Ginsburger’s survey. More people now say they suffer from the heat in the summer – 66 percent – than the cold in the winter, 46 percent.
“Overcrowded buildings are often uncomfortable and uncomfortable,” Ginsburger said. “These are people who are facing overcrowding in damaged buildings in areas such as Marseille and Lyon that are at risk of heatstroke.
“We’re going with the same less-than-stellar approach instead of a more permanent approach that would require a lot of (building) infrastructure.”
For the homeless, the effects of heat waves can be even worse.
“People who are outside do not have a moment’s rest. They are stuck in a concrete jungle where there is no easy, effective way to escape the extreme heat. On the tarmac, the temperature that is often considered can reach 45-50 degrees,” Paul Alauzy, of the NGO Medecins du Monde, or Doctors of the World, told Al Jazeera.
He is a member of Le Revers, an activist group that created the 2024 Olympics in Paris to raise awareness of the plight of disadvantaged people in the Paris region.
“We are asking for long-term policies to protect more people and reduce the number of people living on the streets, to protect them from bad weather,” said Alauzy. Again, the authorities are pushing for climate control.
During periods of heat and cold, the French authorities often add emergency shelters and install temporary water storage facilities.
“This is obviously not enough,” Alauzy said.
Not all parks are natural spaces, essential for relaxation, available to all.
“Trees, which are natural tools to control heat, have been successfully released in our cities,” said Villalba, especially in deprived areas.
In places like Saint-Denis, schools and other public facilities are underequipped, said Ammari, a childcare worker.
‘It’s a privilege to be in a high place’
Even in the mountains, temperatures soared above 30C during the last hot spell, nearly 10C (18F) above the average temperature for mid-June.
In Chamonix, the Bossons Glacier above the town appears to be receding and conditions on the popular routes to Mont Blanc and neighboring peaks are becoming dangerous due to falling rocks.
But the night is not difficult, and the locals and visitors to the Alps sleep well.
There are forest roads and a river fed by glacial melt that cools the surrounding area.
“In Chamonix, as in many mountain towns, it is good to be at an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) and to have the forest a few minutes from home,” Jean-Michel Bouteille, who recently retired as director of municipal services in Chamonix, told Al Jazeera. “We’re a town of 9,000 people, but we still have green spaces nearby that are free and easy to get to.”
Although the mountain climate is not oppressive, the climate change is felt in Chamonix.
Bouteille, who has lived in the valley for 26 years, said: “We have more heat than in previous years, which is causing serious problems.
