French presidential hopeful Philippe pledges climate readiness

French presidential candidate Edouard Philippe on Thursday said he would help France better adapt to face climate change if he won, after the country's hottest summer since 1900.

With seven months to go before the vote, contenders are seeking to address environmental concerns after a series of heatwaves this summer caused drought, wildfires and almost 8,000 excess deaths.

"We will not choose the climate of 2050," said the centrist, who has been lagging in the polls behind his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the race to replace President Emmanuel Macron next year.

"But we can choose the France that will face it. We can decide to be ready," said the former prime minister as he campaigned in the western town of Les Ponts-de-Ce.

Philippe promised to earmark two billion euros ($2.3 billion) to adapt to rising temperatures.

Europe has been gripped by successive heatwaves and a major drought this year, which scientists have blamed on human-caused climate change.

In France, the soaring temperatures left riverbeds dry and fuelled forest blazes, while leaving hospitals and schools without air conditioning struggling to cope.

If he won, Philippe said he wanted to ensure during his first term as president that France produced its own "French Canadair" firefighting aeroplane, "so that we no longer have to wait, when France is burning, for some other country to be willing to sell us planes to put out the fire".

He spoke after his far-right rival earlier in the day visited people in a village near the winemaking capital of Bordeaux who in July lost their homes in the country's largest blaze since 1949.

In the southwestern village of Le Porge, Le Pen said the priority was compensation to people who had been affected by the fires.

"We need to recognise that this global warming has consequences for economic activity and for climate events," she said.

It "requires us to establish processes that allow us to be as resilient as possible -- perhaps by choosing crops that are as resilient as possible", she said.

As criticism rose this summer that Macron's government had not prepared for the heat enough, Le Pen advocated for cooling units for all.

A poll of more than 13,000 voters this weekend projected that Le Pen would win the first round of next year's presidential election.

It said Philippe could face Le Pen in the run-off, but only if his centrist rival Gabriel Attal steps down.

If Attal remains in the race, Le Pen would face hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the second round instead, it suggested.