French President Emmanuel Macron still has plans to force an environmental mandate in his sights, almost a year after first suggesting so. He hopes to change the country’s constitution to include binding environmental policies and responsibilities for future French leaders – which becomes more pressing considering the next French presidential election is in a year.
Macron is eligible to run for a second term in office, and if he decides to run this could give his presidential bid a boost, to silence criticism from green advocates. On the other hand, the plans have drawn criticism for the impact they could have on jobs and the cost of the proposed measures.
The first mentions of the measures came in June 2020, where €15bn was proposed to help combat the climate crisis and to adopt “ecocide” as a crime. These are only a few proposals adopted that have been suggested by the “Citizens’ Commission for the Climate”, a group of French citizens that have been randomly chosen to create consensus for France’s climate future.
The most dramatic part of Macron’s green push would be the constitutional change, which would require both the national assembly and senate to agree to before it could be put to a referendum. The proposal would add “the [French] Republic guarantees the preservation of biodiversity and the environment and fights against climate change” to the first article of the constitution, and be down to the people to decide if it is included or not.
But opposition from both the assembly and the senate are likely, particularly from conservatives that want to protect jobs from further legal red tape and damage growth, especially after the ongoing Covid pandemic.
There are also suggestions that Macron’s green streak has come in response to France’s Green party, Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV), winning seats in elections last year. Assuming Macron will run for a second term, he will want to not cede too many votes to a growing green party for next year’s election. Political pressure from environmental interest groups will only grow as the climate crisis grows, and deadlines to the Paris Accords come closer.
Macron has gotten criticism for his climate policies elsewhere, though, including the 2018/2019 Yellow Vest protests over the high taxes, some in part coming from a new carbon tax on fuel. The tax changes, which also included lowering income tax, were thought to disproportionately impact the working and middle classes, and Macron’s government soon backed down and rethought. Environmental change will not come easily, as both everyday lives and the life of the planet need to be taken into account.
The President’s plans will ban flights that are shorter than two-and-a-half hours when a train is available, although they also rejected proposals of a 4% tax on dividends to fund climate policies. Some say more is still needed, and France will not meet the EU Climate plan by 2030, falling 11% shy of the 37% needed. Carbon neutrality by 2050 will be a greater challenge.
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