Macron’s Climate Plan for France, Europe and The World!
The Paris Climate agreement was founded before Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, but since his election in 2017 he has continued to put climate at the top of his agenda.
Near the start of Macron’s presidency his climate policies were controversial (caused very strong reactions). He introduced a fuel tax to cut carbon emissions which inspired months of protests.
He since learned from that and has now held many climate focus groups to consult the public and transition with the people. In June of 2020, the French Government took 146 ideas from the “Citizens Convention for the Climate”.
Fossil Fuels
France aim to reach carbon neutrality (Net Zero) by 2050 and hope the rest of the EU members do the same, with a 55% reduction in gases by 2030. France are hopeful in achieving this due to their many policies.
They are banning short flights. This policy is very wise as lots of COP26 delegates took a flight from one Glasgow airport to the other. This type of transport produces too much harmful gases. 
They are also closing all coal powered stations. Macron aims to convince other leaders to do so at this years COP26 and he has already suggested and discussed the policy at the G20 (Conference for the 20 richest countries) last weekend.
By 2040, all fossil fuelled cars should be phased out and replaced by electric. France has already made lots of progress in this area. They introduced purchase bonuses for those who buy electric cars, this has resulted in 1 in 10 electric cars being sold in 2020. They expect that figure will be 1 in 5 by the end of 2021.
Policy for daily life
The government is setting up a “Carbon Display”. This means that the environmental impact of a product will be listed. The government hopes that this will help the public keep track of their individual impact and make more eco-friendly choices.
France have also renovated homes with a more environmentally friendly insulation (the material in the walls of a home, which keeps the heat in). Around 460,000 homes have already been renovated since the start of the year.
They also aim to recycle 100% of plastic by 2025.
Cooperation
France obviously cannot save the planet alone which is why they also need measures to transition with the public, businesses and other governments. To inspire other countries to join the Paris climate deal, France won’t sign trade deals with countries who aren’t part of the deal. Macron has also held various conferences for other governments, such as “The One Ocean Summit” and “The One Planet Summit”. These gave leaders the opportunity to make climate deals in between COP’s. France have also inspired private businesses to care about the planet, which generated billions of dollars.
Written by Cara McDade
Translated and sumarised key points of https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/ecologie and “France Relance 2030” (France Relaunch) speech.
