France does not keep its commitments in greenhouse gas emissions, the country even has difficulty reducing them, the fault of transport and a greater appeal to fossil fuels.
MO12345LEMONDE With AFP
France does not keep its commitments in greenhouse gas emissions. The country is currently struggling to reduce them, the fault of transport and a greater appeal in fossil fuels to compensate for the difficulties of the nuclear fleet.
In the first nine months of the year, these emissions responsible for global warming have almost stagnated (- 0.3 %) compared to the same period of 2021, according to provisional data from Citepa, organism mandated to carry out the ‘French inventory of programs. A trend far from the necessary decline for France to remain in the nails of its commitments.
“These figures necessarily worry us but we expected it, there is no miracle,” reacts Jeremiah Suissa, general delegate of the NGO our business to all, who has condemned the State for inaction climate last year. “We did not do what it took to reduce emissions at all,” he said, regretting the absence of ambitious policy in terms of public transport or renewable energies.
Emissions up 12 % in energy production
In detail, emissions have notably increased by 12 % over the nine months in energy production, according to CITEPA. “This is explained in particular by the judgment of many nuclear reactors in 2022 which led to the use of thermal power plants”, he notes.
France has indeed been faced with the unavailability of part of its nuclear fleet due in particular to microfissue problems. To compensate for this lack, the country has never consumed as much gas for its electricity production as this year. Due to the energy crisis, also caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the government has also given up closing this winter the coal power plant in Saint-Avold (Moselle).
The CITEPA also points to a 4 % increase in transport emissions, with a sawing of saw to the month. “We come back to the operating mode before the COVID crisis in the transport sector, which continues to be trendy upwards and for the moment, we do not see any real structural change”, notes Michel Colombier, member of the High advice for the climate (HCC).
These trends are registered as a clear offset with the necessary decline for France to respect its objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It is committed to reducing its emissions by 40 % by 2030 , an ambition that must be reinforced to take into account new European objectives (- 55 %). According to the HCC, the country should double the rate of drop in its emissions to around – 4.7 % per year over the period 2022-2030.
judicial threats
Michel Colombier calls for sorting between cyclical data – with the corrosion problems of nuclear reactors – and substantive trends. “We cannot derive from this stagnation conclusions on our ability to achieve objectives,” he said. However, it points to significant challenges in the fields of transport and energy. In the latter, there is “urgency to what we develop renewables because we have a fragile nuclear fleet, of which we are hyperdentants” and which could still reserve “surprises” bad, it remarks Il.
The emissions are all the more scrutinized since justice had given in 2021 given until December 31 to the State to act more decisively on the climate plan, in a dispute carried before the administrative court of Paris by des NGOs gathered under the banner “The affair of the century”.
NGOs now declare themselves ready to return to court in 2023 to ask for financial penalties, saying that the State did not act enough. “The next step is to ask for penalty for a real application by the state of the judge’s decision,” said Jérémie Suissa.
“The government is fully committed to keeping its climate commitments,” said the Ministry of Energy Transition, highlighting a series of measures in favor of energy renovation, sobriety, cycling, carpooling , or the next ban on the rental of thermal colanders.