The ideas put forward on Tuesday by the Prime Minister during his general policy declaration are considered worrying by NGOs and environmental defense activists and specialists.
He plans to wear a “ecology of solutions”. During his general policy statement on Tuesday, October 1, Michel Barnier addressed several topics relating to environmental and climate issues, as requested jointly by civil society. The issue of real estate and housing is the one that the Prime Minister has discussed in the most detail. Wishing “revitalize housing construction”the head of government declared: “We must evolve the ‘zero net artificialization’ regulations in a pragmatic and differentiated manner to meet the essential needs of industry and housing.”
Still in connection with housing, the tenant of Matignon said he wanted an energy performance diagnosis (DPE) “simplified”, with a “adapted calendar” while housing classified G (the worst rated) must normally exit the rental market from January 1, 2025.
On energy, an inseparable theme from the environment and the climate, Michel Barnier is committed to continuing “resolutely” the development of nuclear power and renewable energies, making overseas territories “innovation laboratories for solar and geothermal energy”. For wind turbines, however, he insisted on the need to “better measure all impacts”. A reservation which is not surprising. “I am against wind power, quite clearly”he declared on France 2 when he was a candidate in the right and center primary, for the 2022 presidential election.
These positions are seen by many experts and NGOs as “retreats” in terms of ecological transition. Some of the measures announced “go in the opposite direction of acceleration” of the decarbonization of France, judges for example on X the NGO collective Réseau Action Climat, citing “a stigmatization of wind power or a bet on false solutions like biofuels for aviation”. “The ecological debt will not be reduced by false technocentric solutions or by excluding solutions essential to the energy transition such as wind power”writes in turn Jean-François Julliard, general director of Greenpeace France.
Even if Michel Barnier remained vague on the future of the DPE, its simplification and a postponement of the calendar “will slow down energy renovation policies for buildings”estimates Climate Action Network. Same observation from the National Housing Confederation: “I have a good feeling that we are going to move back on the regulations around thermal strainers. We are going to continue to let people live in housing” labeled F or G, castigates Eddie Jacquemart, its president.
“Ecology, we sit completely on it to please the owners.”
Eddie Jacquemart, president of the National Housing Confederationat franceinfo
This is another step in the reduction of standards, already initiated by Christophe Béchu, the former Minister of Ecological Transition. The correction of the DPE, announced in February, had allowed 140,000 housing units of less than 40 m2 to move out of the category of thermal strainers, which emit at least 70 kg of CO every year2 per square meter. “A tremendous step backwards in the fight against climate change”Eddie Jacquemart already estimated at the time to franceinfo.
As for the desired relaxation of the “zero net artificialization (ZAN)” regulation of soils (which consists of compensating for each newly constructed space by returning the same surface area to nature), “we are very worried”says Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the Bird Protection League (LPO). “Artificialization is the second cause of species disappearance in France”he laments to franceinfo.
“Coming back to the ZAN when the objective is set for 2050 on a fairly well-defined trajectory is rather strange”talks to franceinfo the urban planner Clément Gaillard, specialized in bioclimatic design. But in reality, putting up a certain resistance to the objective of zero net artificialization is not a new fact on the Republican side: Laurent Wauquiez spoke out against this system, in the fall of 2023, when he was president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
In addition to the artificialization of land, it is above all the desire to build new housing which focuses Clément Gaillard’s criticism. “Real estate developers must be rubbing their hands. For ecology and soil conservation, it’s another story”he comments, emphasizing that construction has an impact “carbone colossal”. According to Bpifrance, the carbon footprint of building construction is estimated between 850 and 1,000 kg of CO2 per m2 (i.e. one Paris-New York return flight per passenger, per square meter built).
“From an environmental point of view, building new is not the solution. The large construction companies know that they must work on renovation work, that they will become park managers rather than builders.”
Clément Gaillard, urban plannerat franceinfo
Various levers of action exist, according to him. “We always propose to respond to the housing crisis by building more while we do not question the under-occupancy of housing, the renovation issues, particularly shopping centers”in which many businesses have to close due to the development of online commerce: “These are hangars, parking lots, we can transform them.”
Concerning housing, new practices are emerging or remain to be invented, explains Clément Gaillard: seniors choose to leave their large house to move into smaller accommodation, live in shared accommodation (sometimes with younger people) or even move closer together. of urban centers.
The other important point which has focused attention concerns wind power. The sector in France “right to be worried”judge with franceinfo Nicolas Goldberg, energy expert at Colombus Consulting. According to him, by pressing on it ostensibly, Michel Barnier wanted “give a pledge” to the RN deputies, “who control the government and want to dismantle existing facilities” .
“Wind power has become a political totem and the National Rally has made it its favorite.”
Nicolas Goldberg, energy expert at Colombus Consultingat franceinfo
“France must walk on its two legs with renewable energies and nuclear power”tried to reassure Olga Givernet, the Minister Delegate in charge of Energy, on Tuesday, by opening the National Wind Colloquium of France Renewables.
This speech given the day after Michel Barnier’s general policy declaration is nott “no wonder”judge Nicolas Goldberg, emphasizing that his supervisory minister, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, in charge of Ecology, is aware of the issue. “She knows that if we do not maintain the current trajectory of wind power, we will not meet our climate objectives, and worse, we will put ourselves in a situation of electrical risk.” The specialist, who anticipates tensions between Michel Barnier and his Minister of Ecology, is carefully monitoring future arbitrations.
More generally, France Nature Environnement is concerned about a “discourse of simplification of standards”. “The problem is not the standards, which protect, but the complexity of the administrative procedures that accompany them”estimates the association. These flashbacks are “disarming”deplores climatologist Christophe Cassou. Especially since the latest general public report from the High Council for the Climate (PDF) warns of the incompatibility of current policies to respect France’s commitments in terms of climate change mitigation. “To have ambition, it requires policies that are sustainable, planned, with milestones”he argues.
“What the IPCC report says is that any further delay threatens habitability for all.”
Christophe Cassou, climatologist and research director at CNRSat franceinfo
The climatologist also points out omissions in this general policy declaration, which for him is limited “to technical and normative solutions”. Biodiversity, in particular, is deprived of a state secretariat or delegated minister.
The director of the Institute of Economics for the Climate (I4CE), Benoît Leguet, is waiting. “Michel Barnier has not revealed his intentions”he told franceinfo. “The way to find out more is to wait for the finance bill. That should lift part of the veil.” This member of the High Council for the Climate also calls for the release of structuring and eagerly awaited documents on the ecological transition: the National Low-Carbon Strategy, the multi-annual strategy for financing the ecological transition or even the new adaptation plan .
A final document that the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) has already been able to evaluate. “Their note points out holes in the racket. And in view of the general policy declaration, it is difficult to see how these holes will be filled by the Barnier government”says Christophe Cassou.
