French music video – J’peux pas – J’ai climat!

If your students are interested in the environment, recycling and climate change, this is the French music video for you! It’s in support of the upcoming climate march in Belgium and other cities across Europe. I’ve made a written transcript if you’d like to have your students read it before watching the video. The text is taken directly from the subtitles on the Facebook version of the video (the YouTube subtitles don’t match at all).

What is this French music video about?

Sadly, in the years since this French music video was released and the climate march, things have only gotten worse. The temperature keeps going up and this week has seen some record high temperatures across most of Europe. Back in 2014, a French weather forecaster did a fake forecast calling for ridiculously high temperatures – including 40 degrees in Paris. Here we are 8 years later and the actual temperatures in Europe have beat those in the fake forecast. In 2019, temperatures hit a record high of 45.9 Celsuis – 114.6 F. Keep in mind that most people in France do not have air conditioning (climatisation) in their homes, so this can be very dangerous.

The government is trying to make some changes – gas and diesel-powered vehicles will not be sold after 2040. Domestic flights will be banned if there is a comparable train ride that is less than two and a half hours long. France has always relied on nuclear power for its energy needs and President Macron has announced that he intends to build 15 additional power plants. Many people in France do not believe that enough is being done to combat climate change, though – 74% of people in a recent poll felt that they were more concerned about climate change than the government. As in many countries, older people are less concerned about the issue than younger people.