After several postponements, Emmanuel Macron presented on Monday September 25 the main axes of “ecological planning” which he intends to make a marker of his five-year term, despite an environmental assessment deemed so far insufficient.
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This was one of the campaign promises of French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017, then vying for re-election. “ The five-year term will be ecological or it will not be “, he proclaimed. Emmanuel Macron therefore wanted to make this promise a reality this Monday, September 25 with the presentation of his project of “ ecological planning “. For the second time, the French president brought together this Monday, September 25 afternoon, the Ecological Planning Council created after his re-election, with Elisabeth Borne and the ministers concerned. His concluding speech was broadcast.
Those who were waiting for tables indicating precisely how much to decarbonize each sector and how to do it will still have to wait. You have to see this ecological planning, intended to be the roadmap for the transformation of France as a framework which sets general objectives sector by sector. But on how to achieve them, all this is referred to later texts, such as the multi-annual energy programming expected next month. The envelope dedicated to financing increases by 7 billion per year, going from 33 to 40 billion dedicated to the ecological transition.
France’s objective is to reduce, in 2030, greenhouse gas emissions in France by 55% compared to 1990. We must “ go twice as fast », reaffirmed Emmanuel Macron, while the drop in emissions during his first five-year term was helped by the economic slowdown caused by Covid. “ An objective that is absolutely fundamental in this decarbonization is the exit from coal “, declared the president. The latter must be effective on January 1, 2027. Presented as the flagship measure, coal nevertheless represents only 3% of the energy consumed in the country – oil and gas around 43%. Above all, France was initially supposed to exit last year before a step back from the executive.
Some concrete measures
The president made some new announcements, such as an immediate envelope of 700 million euros from the State to begin to develop better regional transport networks and thus build 13 metropolitan RERs, i.e. more than the ten projects initially envisaged. These RER projects “ will give rise to planning » and funding within the framework of the State-region plan contracts which will be signed in October, he specified. “ This will also make it possible to launch projects for our railway industry and the jobs that go with it. “, promised the president. Emmanuel Macron specified that these projects would cost a total of 10 billion euros.
While he had confirmed the day before give up banning gas boilers so as not to leave the French in rural areas “ without solutions », Emmanuel Macron also set the objective of one million heat pumps by the end of the five-year term, tripling the current level, as part of ecological planning. Above all, he addressed a very politically sensitive point in this new school year dominated by inflation and the decline in purchasing power: the price of electricity.
The president promised to announce in October a resumption of “ control of the price of our electricity ” so that she is ” sustainable for both our businesses and our households », in a context of inflation and still high energy prices. While a battle of numbers pits the renationalized company EDF and the State over the future regulation of electricity, the president wants prices that are ” compatible » with the requirements of “ competitiveness » and give “ visibility for both households and our industrialists “.
Decarbonize 50 industrial sites that emit the most CO2
Evoking a “ ecology that creates economic value “, he stressed the need for ” develop industrial sectors on our soil and have a made in Europe strategy ” to end the “ our dependence » to fossil fuels whose price he estimated at “ 120 billion euros per year ” for France.
In this context, the decarbonization of the 50 industrial sites that emit the most CO2, announced a year ago, should make it possible to reduce industrial emissions by 45% by 2030, said Emmanuel Macron. The plans with the large industrialists in the steel, chemical or cement industries which are part of it “ will be signed at the end of October, beginning of November » for all of them, he said. They will then be extended to SMEs. They are planning massive investments to make their production methods less polluting or to capture carbon whose production cannot be avoided.
The president also confirmed “ a large inventory of mineral resources » in France, because they are “ necessary for the ecological transition », particularly to find metals powering electric batteries. “ We must have a precise map of the lithium and cobalt resources found on our territory. “, indicated the president, specifying that it would also be necessary “ look precisely at the natural hydrogen deposits which could play a major role in producing this energy of the future “.
On two major industrial projects, industrial hydrogen and carbon sequestration, the president estimated that the future multi-year law on higher education and research would be able to help with implementation. “ A consultation is underway » on CO2 sequestration, and “ ultimately, we must be able to develop at least one site in France, again to reduce our dependence on outside countries. “, said Emmanuel Macron.
Same idea of independence for the electric car. “ We will have at least one million electric cars produced by 2027 on French soil. », which will be an exporter of electric batteries by 2027, he recalled.
(And with AFP)
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