Raphaël Glucksmann has officially launched his campaign for the French presidential election with a tour of western France focused on environmental policies.
The leader of the centre-left Place Publique party, who is competing in the Socialist primary, kicked off his campaign by climbing an 80-metre-high wind turbine in a field affected by summer heatwaves.
Glucksmann was joined by Green Senator Yannick Jadot, who officially endorsed his candidacy just hours after Glucksmann announced his bid on Sunday evening during the TF1 evening news broadcast.
Wearing a white helmet and harness at the base of the turbine, Glucksmann said before the ascent that he felt as though he was inside a rocket and was eager to reach the top. After spending several minutes climbing to the nacelle and descending, Glucksmann outlined the central environmental focus of his platform alongside nine white wind turbines, some of which were stationary.
Glucksmann is an essayist and Member of the European Parliament who co-founded Place Publique in 2018 to unite the French centre-left. Jadot, a senator for Paris, represented the Green party in the 2022 presidential election, where he won 4.63 per cent of the vote in the first round.
Nuclear energy and policy proposals
Glucksmann said ecological transformation would be the primary axis of his political project, calling for radical changes rather than policy shifts.
Jadot endorsed the general direction, but differences remain between the two politicians over nuclear energy policy. Glucksmann supports building new European Pressurised Reactors, known as EPRs, whereas Jadot and traditional green activists oppose new nuclear construction.
Both politicians downplayed the split, stating that they agreed on the immediate priority of phasing out oil and gas. Glucksmann said a solution on nuclear energy would be found, while Jadot noted that new reactors would not be operational until 2040 or 2050 and supported securing France's existing nuclear fleet.
Jadot, nicknamed the green giant during his 2022 campaign, will work over the coming weeks to draft an action plan for Glucksmann's promised first 100 days of ecological revolution. Advisers traveling with Glucksmann revealed details of a proposed social leasing scheme to provide 100,000 electric vehicles for less than 100 euros per month for rural care workers and low-income drivers.
Jadot appears to be the only prominent Green politician backing Glucksmann, as his party, Les Écologistes, remains divided over whether to form a unified left-wing alliance or field separate candidates. An elected official attending the event noted that the wider green party faced a political stalemate.
Campaign trail in Marais Poitevin
Following the wind turbine visit, Glucksmann traveled to Magné in the Deux-Sèvres department to tour the Marais poitevin natural park.
Dressed in city shoes, the candidate boarded a wooden cattle boat outside an old sawmill, while journalists followed in traditional flat-bottomed marsh boats. The boat carrying print journalists drifted off course while trying to follow Glucksmann's motorized vessel because it lacked a professional boatman.
The Marais poitevin is a vast area of marshland in western France, often referred to as the Green Venice, spanning the Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, and Charente-Maritime departments.
After landing in a marshland field where local calves stayed clear of the crowd, Glucksmann spoke with a local farmer about agricultural challenges. The farmer expressed concern over recurring summer droughts and the future of wetlands, prompting Glucksmann to promise that his government would take all necessary action to preserve the area.
Voter encounters in Coulon
The campaign trip concluded in Coulon, a small municipality of 2,300 residents. Glucksmann posed for photos with supporters and signed copies of his book, Nous avons encore envie, published by Éditions Allary.
The candidate faced pushback outside a church on the village square when a local shopkeeper shouted that Jean-Luc Mélenchon represented the true left. When the shopkeeper asked Glucksmann to summarize his campaign in three words, Glucksmann replied that his platform stood for ecological revolution, democracy, and Europe.
In response to questions about pension policy, Glucksmann promised a left-wing reform that would allow manual workers, cleaners, slaughterhouse employees, and forklift drivers to retire earlier, while administrative executives would work longer. Glucksmann acknowledged that he had eight months to convince voters, to which the shopkeeper noted that the candidate had a long way to go.
A young left-wing activist also challenged Glucksmann in Coulon, saying she would vote for Mélenchon because Glucksmann lacked a detailed programme. Glucksmann responded by stating that voters should accept their political disagreements. Mélenchon is the founder and leader of the far-left La France Insoumise party.
Place Publique reported that it had registered more than 1,000 new party members within hours of Glucksmann launching his campaign. However, Glucksmann faces significant hurdles across the left wing, including policy differences with Green allies and strong competition from Mélenchon's supporters as the primary approaches.
