Climate Related Deaths on the French Policy Agenda: Does Cold Deserve Less Attention Than Heat?

Climate and health are linked in several ways. In European countries, where individuals spend most of their time indoors, understanding these links requires including considerations related to the quality of housing and to energy access and affordability. While the energy poverty literature has discussed the health risks caused by inadequate temperatures for several decades (Keatinge, 1989, Boardman, 1991; Healy, 2004), the complex relationships between climate, health, housing and energy have until now, not entered the policy agenda in several countries. Our paper focuses on the mortality impacts of temperature variations in France. We analyse to what extent and how climate-related deaths have emerged on the French policy agenda. The relations between variations of temperatures and mortality are a well-documented fact (Laaidi et al., 2006): when temperatures fall below – or rise above – certain levels, the health risks for the population increase and the impacts in terms of mortality are clearly visible. In terms of recognition of the issue, there is however an asymmetry between deaths caused by cold climate on the one hand, and deaths caused by heat waves on the other hand. Whereas heat waves have emerged on the government’s agenda immediately after the heat wave of 2003 – the heatwave of August 2003 has caused over 15,000 deaths – mortality caused by cold climate has failed to veritably emerge as an issue for French policy makers. Even if it has been shown that cold temperatures during the winter period are responsible, each year, for equally high or even higher excess mortality figures (Le Roy Ladurie and Rousseau, 2009). We discuss the emergence of climate-related mortality on French policy makers’ agenda combining a multiple streams approach (Kingdon, 2003, Cairney and Jones, 2016) and a causal stories approach (Stone, 1989). We explain why heat waves have received high consideration in the policy process, whereas the impacts of cold climate are still viewed as a problem mainly affecting homeless people. The French approach is in stark contrast with the UK, where the focus has been on excess winter mortality for several decades. The limited attention given to winter mortality in France has probably influenced the development and the design of policies to limit the health impacts of temperature variations. Until now, emergency situations caused by extreme temperature variation are at the core of attention. This results in prevention measures that focus mainly on social care and on health policy actions, whereas other, more structural measures, like improvements of the built environment are viewed as a separate issue.