France continues its dynamic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They have decreased by 5.3% in the 1st quarter of 2024, compared to the first quarter of 2023, announced on France Bleu Christophe Béchu, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, this Thursday. Guest of the show Ma France with Wendy Bouchard, the minister welcomed this “positive dynamic”.
Over the whole of 2023, “we managed to reduce emissions by 5.8%”clarified Christophe Béchu, who notes that “All sectors are declining: energy thanks to the increase in hydroelectric production and nuclear power, but also transport, which was the area in which we had the most difficulty.”
“Ecology has entered people’s heads”
For Christophe Béchu, “This shows that there is a dynamic that is underway.” “This is proof that some of the measures we have taken are working, it is also the fruit of the efforts of the French people,” welcomes the minister. “Ecology has entered people’s heads and no one camp can say that it has a monopoly on this subject,” continued the minister, a few days before first round of legislative elections.
Over the whole of 2023greenhouse gases emitted by human activity had already fallen by 5.8% in France, with a total equivalent of 373 million tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, Citepa, the organization responsible for drawing up France’s carbon footprint, announced at the end of May. The organization has not yet officially published its figures for the first quarter of 2024.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, over the months of January, February and March 2024, France emitted a total of 101 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
A temporary or long-term setback?
The emissions counted include activities on the territory, but not those linked to imports. Many environmental NGOs, however, point out the fact that these declines could only be cyclical, due in particular to milder winters and at economic downturn.
The High Council for the Climate (HCC), for its part, estimated that up to two thirds of the drop in emissions last year could be attributed to public climate policy.
