“Gadget”, “greenwashing”, “biodiversity scam”, “addictive”, “useless”, and even “dangerous”. Since the announcement of its creation, the “Biodiversity Lottery” has continued to arouse controversy.
Available in tobacco shops from this Monday, October 23 for the modest sum of three euros, this scratch game which allows you to win “up to 30,000 euros in winnings”, is the result of a parliamentary initiative. That of the Renaissance deputy, Jean-Marc Zulesi.
On the sidelines of the debates on the 2023 Finance Bill, the elected official from the presidential majority tabled an amendment which proposed the creation of a “Biodiversity Lottery” in October 2022. The objective? Finance projects linked to the preservation of fauna and flora by paying directly to the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) the share of the stakes supposed to go to the State. A windfall likely to bring in between 10 and 15 million euros according to estimates. And this, from the first year.
20 projects to save life
Among around fifty candidates, twenty winners were chosen to benefit from the funds collected by the OFB. Each carrying a project linked to the preservation of living things: “restoration of limestone lawn in the Verdun forest”, “ecological restoration on the forest site of the Forez ecozone”, or even “ecological restoration of the meandering alkaline peat bogs of the Haute -Sum”.
The government presents the system as carrying “large-scale projects, with a major positive impact on ecosystems and their restoration, and acting in favor of habitats or heritage species on a national scale.” But also “network” projects which must have an impact “at regional or local level on the ecosystems or species concerned”.
Environmental uselessness
Already at the time, many actors expressed their dissatisfaction. “Here we are… Really? This world is going crazy! Games/lotto/biodiversity/financing nothing is going well in this information worthy of Gorafi. This shows in what esteem we hold the protection of biodiversity”, had published on Twitter (henceforth X), the National Environmental Union FSU on October 10, 2022.
“Only 43 euro cents per ticket sold is used to finance OFB projects […] the rest goes into the state coffers”, also mocks France Nature Environnement, which for its part criticizes a project well below the climate challenges whose cost amounts to “more than 600 million euros”. And denounces a game that “deceives the consumer, making them believe that it will popularize the defense of biodiversity.”
Heard by the Senate Finance Committee last February, the president of the National Gaming Authority (ANJ) Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin expressed an unfavorable opinion on its provision, judging it not to be in conformity with the jurisprudence of the Court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) because of its particularly “addictive” appearance.
The risk of addiction among young people
And for good reason, the environmental theme backed by a relatively affordable price compared to other games on the market, makes it particularly attractive to the young generation, the most sensitive to climate issues. In 2020, the environment was at the top of the concerns among 18-30 year olds (32%), ahead of immigration (19%) and unemployment (17%).
In the Senate, the project, included in the 2023 Budget, was even rejected before being adopted thanks to the use of 49.3 on the budgetary text. Senators from the right as well as the left had not been careful then. “It’s irresponsible,” criticized elected LR Jean-François Husson.
“It’s a public health issue,” added her colleague Christine Lavarde, pointing out the “dangers of games and the addiction that can be created by gaming” and exclaiming: “ten million euros, That’s not how we’re going to finance biodiversity.” Socialist senator Angèle Préville denounced “greenwashing of the game”.