“Paris has its hands tied in the fight against climate change”

NWe had the right to expect that Paris would set an example in terms of climate action and ambition to other metropolises in France or Europe, but unfortunately we will have to come back. The new climate plan is undoubtedly the first structuring plan in a long series which will suffer from the financial difficulties of the city, which simply no longer knows how to finance its transition. For lack of resources, it is the future of today's Parisians and the future of those of tomorrow that is at risk.

ALSO READ Court of Auditors: the heatwave risk is before us, especially in ParisDespite the opposition's incessant demands, no complete budgeting or deployment or prioritization schedule will be linked to the climate plan. An absence which questions the real voluntarism of the executive. How then can we hope to mobilize the economic forces on which the city so hopes to rely, but which need predictability and commitments on its part?

10 billion euros of debt

Rather than proposing a myriad of 396 climate actions to be carried out in six years, the city would do better to go to the essentials and anchor itself in the reality of Parisians. This Lépine competition for initiatives is unfortunately much more about political display than climate action: creation of a gendered office for climate action, financing of the World Bank's “loss and damage” fund for emerging countries… this is what the taxes of Parisians will be used for tomorrow, already squandered each year in subsidies that raise questions, while their city is crumbling under 10 billion euros of debt!

ALSO READ Candidate for municipal elections in Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire wants to massively pedestrianizeBloodless finances which force the city to accept a moral defeat since it now passes on to the Parisians the choice of which school rather than another will be the subject of a thermal renovation, by making them choose by their votes in the budget participatory, due to the lack of being able to finance it through its general budget. This is a serious renunciation of politics, which is the only one who should be responsible for such arbitrations.

Lack of impact study

In many ways, this climate plan sounds like an abandonment by Parisians. This is all the more true for residents of the ring road, who are already subject to socio-environmental vulnerabilities. Their situation could get worse with the “urban boulevard”, inaugurated by the deputy mayor of Paris, David Belliard, even before it was approved by the vote on the climate plan – we will appreciate in passing the fine example of democracy! This is the price that local residents will pay, undoubtedly in the name of the executive's corridor agreements with the Greens, even though a recent study by the Institute of Public Policies warned of the increase in pollution suffered by residents of the ring road following the closure of the lanes on the banks and the ensuing increase in traffic jams.

ALSO READ Anne Hidalgo withdraws, the battle for Paris is launchedBy ideology and self-importance, no doubt believing that it has the prerogative of environmental concerns, the executive has based itself on the constructive position of the opposition of the right and the center, which faced with the urgency to act preferred vote in favor of the climate plan while proposing a series of responsible adjustments. Implementation of real climate planning, environmental impact study of the urban boulevard, mobilization of new technologies in the service of the climate or even pooling of public orders from districts to reduce transition bills: all these proposals common sense that we had was rejected en masse by the executive.

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Answer

And the open-mindedness is not greater with regard to the contributions of experts like France Nature Environnement Paris, who did not fail to question the feasibility of the city's quantified commitments in the face of already delays. accumulated on the previous climate plan and recalled by the regional chamber of accounts in 2022. Paris is therefore missing a historic opportunity to accelerate its commitment to the environment and, it was written, is today paying the price of more than one decade of policies expensive ones that now tie its hands in the fight against climate change.

* Mathieu Luinaud is deputy mayor of the XV^e district of Paris and lecturer in technological policies at Sciences Po Paris.