French President Emmanuel Macron has put on display a national “ecological plan” to reduce France’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and cease the use of fossil fuels by 2030. This followed after a special ministerial council at the Elysée, when the French President said that an extra €10bn (£8.7bn) would be directed towards the 50-point programme, which he described as “ecology à la Française”.
The plan aimed at addressing the climate crisis while ascertaining that France remained competitive in agriculture and industry, said Macron.“France reduces our dependence on so-called fossil fuels, coal, petrol and gas, which we don’t produce any more but on which we depend” he added. The aim, was to reduce dependence to 40% by 2030, he said.
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“The priority that we have set is that by January 2027 we will have totally ended the use of coal for our electricity production,” he said.
The plan involved measures like acceleration of electric car production, with brakes on gas boilers, though the president stopped short of a total ban. The plan also includes new projects for offshore windfarms, inauguration of several electric battery factories in the North of France, as well as a map to establish where natural resources- including hydrogen gas and essential elements for lithium batteries, can be found in France, and lastly a €700m state investment in the regional train network.
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Companies deemed responsible for 50 of the dirtiest industrial sites in France are set to sign an agreement to alleviate pollution by 45% before 2030.
The state would yield back control of electricity prices next month said Macron. He added that the people would be encouraged to view at alternatives like heat pumps- that promise to triple pump production in the next three years, and train 30,000 new installers.
While the President announced the plan, the office of the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, drew it up after the appointment of a secretary general for ecological planning last year. She had presented the plan to party leaders and ecological groups last week, several of which described it as disappointing.
