France is one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic — with more than 130,000 cases and 24,000 deaths at the time of writing. The gilets jaunes protesters’ slogan comparing the struggle over “the end of the month” to the struggle over the “end of the world” today sounds like a haunting prophecy.

The strict quarantine to slow the spread of the virus is rubbing salt into the wounds of a France that has recently experienced an exceptionally long period of social unrest. From the start of the gilets jaunes uprising almost a year and a half ago to the mass movement against a proposed pension reform, France’s streets have seen huge mobilizations, with the question of climate change and solidarity at the core of those popular movements.

The parallels that can already be drawn between the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis will be crucial for approaching climate politics going forward. Central to this comparison are the blatant inequalities in terms of who is most affected and the call for broad restructuring of economies and societies. Moreover, in this comparison, we can find the material bases for reimagining political responses to both COVID-19 and the climate crisis.