The green activist has urged citizens to “adapt” to increased temperatures and step up efforts to tackle global warming, as one of the worst heatwaves on record continues to blanket the bloc.
Mr Hulot told France’s Europe 1 radio as he commented on the killer heatwave wreaking havoc across Europe: “I don’t even know whether the word urgency means anything anymore. The urgency was yesterday. We should have taken action to combat climate change yesterday.
“We’ve got ourselves into a situation that is no longer a crisis situation, but a permanent reality. We’re not going to solve the problem by looking for scapegoats, the responsibility is collective.”
The environmentalist warned the world was already suffering from the impacts of climate change, before adding: “We need to adapt to climate change but also continue to combat its causes to stop the phenomenon from getting worse and spiralling out of control.”
In an apparent reference to American President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to pull the US from the Obama-era Paris climate agreement, he added: “We will not [stop climate change] if we work against each other. We must all take our share of responsibility.”
Signed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, the landmark accord seeks to limit planetary warming by curbing global emissions of greenhouse gases scientists believe drive global warming.
Mr Hulot also reiterated his calls for a “sacred union” to fight climate change.
The environment chief said: “We cannot prevent pollution peaks overnight, nor can we reverse the temperature curve. But we will only be able to stop climate change if a sacred union is in place.
“We have the technological, technical and economic tools [to combat climate change] but a minister or country alone cannot solve a situation which is the result of a development model which has been in place for decades and decades.”
Weeks of dry weather and sweltering temperatures have triggered droughts and wildfires across Europe, sparking fears that the near-record temperatures are the region’s new normal.
In France, four nuclear reactors were temporarily closed due to the scorching heat, while three cities banned the most polluting cars from the roads because of heat-linked ozone pollution.
In Paris and Strasbourg, the ban targeted vehicles that are 12 years and older, while in Lyon only cars with a clean air sticker were allowed to circulate.
However, a sharp drop in temperatures caused by violent thunderstorms across the country marked the end of the month-long heatwave on Tuesday.