Bordeaux's mayor, Thomas Cazenave, has described the summer of 2026 as one of the most extreme climatic episodes the city has ever faced. This summer was marked by an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures reaching a record 44.6 °C on June 23. The city experienced 40 days with temperatures above 35 °C and 10 days above 40 °C. Additionally, the region was hit by one of the largest fires in its history, leading to the evacuation of over 200,000 people in Gironde—the largest such evacuation since World War II. These events have prompted the city to take urgent action to prepare for future climate challenges. Cazenave admitted that Bordeaux was not adequately prepared for the scale of climate disruption it faced this summer. He pointed to the previous mayor, ecologist Pierre Hurmic, who had initiated some green initiatives, but acknowledged that these efforts are not enough to make the city resilient to future extreme weather. Bordeaux's urban landscape, shaped by redevelopment in the 1990s and early 2000s, has created "heat islands," where urban materials like concrete and asphalt absorb and retain heat, making the city more vulnerable to high temperatures. To address these challenges, the deputy mayor for ecological transition, Véronique Juramy, has warned that summers like 2026 will become the norm in France by 2100, with the hottest summers potentially lasting up to 67 days of heatwaves by 2050. The new municipal administration is developing a comprehensive "shade policy" to make cooling accessible to all residents. This includes installing canopies and shade screens in highly trafficked areas, transforming public transport stops into cool zones, and setting up fountains and misters to create cooling routes throughout the city. The goal is to ensure that every resident can reach a cool area within 300 meters of their home by the end of the current administration's term. Schools will be a key focus of the adaptation strategy, with plans to install air circulators in classrooms to reduce temperatures by three to four degrees. By 2027, each school will have a dedicated, cooled refuge room. Municipal buildings will also undergo assessments to improve their resilience to heat, including the use of night ventilation and greening techniques. Active cooling solutions, such as air conditioning and geothermal systems, will be considered where necessary. The city also plans to use recycled water from treatment plants or the Garonne River for watering and street cleaning, reducing its reliance on potable water. The total cost of these climate adaptation measures is expected to be around 150 million euros, with financing discussions set to take place in the autumn.