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On Tuesday, July 20, 2021 the French National Assembly voted 233 to 35 in favor of the "Climate and Resilience" bill. But what are the steps that led to this project, and what really makes up this law?
What steps led to the Climate and Resilience Act?
This bill is the most important ecological measure of this presidential quinquennium, and the fruit of several years' work. In order to understand the events that influenced the drafting of this text, we suggest that you go back in time to take stock of this chronology.
The Paris agreements
November 4, 2016
On November 4, 2016, the Paris climate agreements came into force. These agreements aim to keep global warming below 2°C and tackle the consequences of climate change. The agreement was signed by 196 parties, who committed to updating their country's greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy every 5 years. France and all the countries of the European Union are signatories to this treaty.
The European Union had initially set itself the target of reducing its carbon emissions by at least 40% by 2030, but in 2020 it revised its ambitions upwards to aim for a reduction of at least 55% over the same period.
France has set itself a target of a 40% reduction by 2030.
The Paris agreements encourage signatories to assume their responsibilities in the fight against global warming and oblige them to set targets for reducing carbon emissions, but do not determine the actions to be taken.
In order to draw up a national action plan, France called on its citizens to reflect on the subject by organizing the Citizens' Climate Convention.
The Citizens' Climate Convention (CCC)
October 2019 to June 2020
The Citizens' Climate Convention brought together 150 citizens over 6 weekends, from October 2019 to June 2020, to work on global warming. This work led to the drafting of 149 proposals designed to achieve France's objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
These proposals are organized into five main themes: consumption, production and work, mobility, housing and food. They were then studied by the government, with a view to drafting a bill: the Climate and Resilience Act.
The Climate and Resilience Bill
February 12, 2021
Nine months after the CCC proposals were tabled, a draft law, called Climat et Résilience, was presented to the Council of Ministers. It is based on some of the proposals put forward at the convention, 46 to be exact. The bill aims to :
- Change our eating and drinking habits,
- Changing production and work models,
- Rethinking transport and travel,
- Take action on housing and land use,
- Implement sanctions to limit environmental damage,
The opinion of the High Council for Climate (HCC)
February 23, 2021
Following this bill, the French High Council for the Climate (Haut Conseil pour le Climat) expressed its opinion that it was not sufficient, and that the text should "better integrate the measures adopted into the broader approach of the decarbonization strategy" (1).
This opinion set the whole of the French population on fire, including citizens, associations and political parties, particularly environmentalists.
Demonstration for "a real climate law
March 28, 2021
On Sunday, March 28, 2021, some 110,000 demonstrators took to the streets of French cities to call for a "real Climate Law". A law that would be in line with the objectives set by the Paris agreements, to keep global warming below 2°C.
Adoption of the text by the Senate
June 28, 2021
After two weeks of scrutiny, the Climate and Resilience Act has been passed by the Senate, albeit with some modifications. In general terms, the Senate rewrote the text of the law to make it less restrictive, and to extend deadlines to enable the various stakeholders to carry out the work required to comply with the new regulations.
Nevertheless, the theme of transport and mobility has been modified in favor of the climate, thanks in particular to the reduction in VAT on train tickets from 10 to 5.5%.
The bill must then be voted on again by the French National Assembly, 1 month later, on July 20, 2021.
The Conseil d'Etat condemns the French government
July 1, 2021
In January 2019, the town of Grande-Synthe appealed to the Conseil d'État (French Council of State) because it felt that it was particularly exposed to climate change and that the State was not acting sufficiently to mitigate these risks. In a landmark decision, the Conseil d'Etat ordered the State to pay the town 5,000 euros. This sanction, more symbolic than punitive, marks the beginning of "climate trials".
On July 1, the Conseil d'État asked the government to "take all necessary measures to curb the curve of greenhouse gas emissions". The Council of State has given the government nine months, until March 31, 2022, to put in place an action plan to achieve its objectives. As a reminder, France has set itself the target of reducing its emissions by 40% by 2030.
The National Assembly vote
July 20, 2021
Despite all the efforts made by various stakeholders to amend the bill, the French National Assembly approved it by 233 votes to 35 on July 20. Comprising 69 articles, this text will, according to the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, make "ecology penetrate to the heart of the French model in all its most fundamental aspects: schools, public services, justice, but also housing and urban planning, advertising and transport".
For many, this law is not ambitious enough, given the scale of the work required to tackle global warming. But what will this new regulation mean for French people? Read on to find out.
What are the main measures in the Climate and Resilience Act?
The bill consists of 69 articles based on the CCC's themes of consumption, production and work, mobility, housing and food. The text is far less substantial than the CCC's proposals, which numbered 149.
The Climate and Resilience Act has been designed to complement other projects such as the Recovery Plan, regulatory reforms, etc.
Now let's talk in more detail about the articles and what they entail.
Theme: Consumption
By 2030, supermarkets of over 400 m2 will have to devote 20% of their floor space to the sale of bulk products. The aim of this article is to reduce the amount of plastic packaging and change French consumer habits.
The construction of new shopping centers will no longer be possible on natural or agricultural land, subject to certain conditions. This will limit the artificialization of land.
Theme: Producing and working
Employees now have a say in their company's environmental strategy. Ecology is becoming everyone's business, even within companies.
An environmental label will be compulsory on the products and services we consume, to inform us about the impact of this product on the environment and in particular on the climate. Industries will therefore be obliged to analyze the way in which they produce their goods and services. The aim is to encourage decarbonization of industry.
Theme: Getting around
As part of the development of green transport, the law introduces a number of measures.
It is no longer possible to travel by plane on domestic journeys if there is a train alternative of less than 2h30. An exception is made for flights used mainly for connections to more distant destinations.
Priority carpooling lanes will be created to encourage vehicle sharing.
Low-emission zones will be mandatory in cities with populations of over 150,000. This will restrict access to city centers to the most polluting vehicles, and Crit'Air 3 vehicles will be banned from circulation in 2025.
The Climate & Resilience Act also provides for grants to finance the purchase of electric cars and the deployment of recharging stations.
Theme: Accommodation
The law includes a section on housing and the development of a sustainable housing stock. Poorly insulated housing will also be subject to regulations. In fact, G-rated thermal flats will no longer be rentable from 2025, nor will F-rated homes from 2028.
To support this measure, a national network of renovators will be set up to simplify renovation work on French buildings and make it more effective.
Theme: Feeding yourself
Vegetarian meals will become the norm in school and university canteens. From January 1, 2023, establishments offering several menus a day will be obliged to include a vegetarian option on their menu. Canteens offering a single daily menu will be required to offer one vegetarian meal per week.
Conclusion
These measures represent just a small extract from the text of the Climate and Resilience Act. There are also measures to educate and raise awareness of environmental issues among young people, zero-interest loans to encourage the purchase of cleaner vehicles, advertising reforms and the installation of solar panels.
Generally speaking, this text represents a step forward for the environmental cause and for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but it falls short of today's challenges. These measures will not be enough to meet France's greenhouse gas reduction target of 40% by 2030, let alone make a significant contribution to the EU's target of 55% by 2030.
Companies have a duty to play their part in reducing carbon emissions, both nationally and worldwide. The best way to take part in this collective effort is to carry out a carbon assessment of your organization, and then track changes in your emissions once you've drawn up a detailed action plan.
A SaaS tool like the one offered by Traace enables you to centralize and organize the carbon-related part of your CSR strategy.
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Sources :
( 1 ) "Recommendations" included in the opinion on the climate and resilience bill issued by the French High Council for the Climate.
( 3 ) https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/loi-climat-resilience
