Appointed on July 4, 2022, Christophe Béchu is stayed for more than two years at the head of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, much longer than his predecessors under Emmanuel Macron. “It is a long time because I will be the longest serving Minister of Ecology during Emmanuel Macron’s five-year mandate., declared to Western Mail, Thursday 19 September, the man who should be mayor of Angers again on Monday evening, after an election that was anything but surprising.. And brief because we are dealing with long-term issues. »
In this position, often caught between the Elysée, Matignon, Bercy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Béchu, unknown when he arrived at the environmental sector, leaves the image of a pragmatic man, quite open to dialogue, but often unable to resist executive arbitration, as during the recent agricultural crisis marked by numerous environmental setbacks.
“He had the merit of remaining in office while this function is subject to a great rotation; he is a minister who listens.sums up Morgane Piederriere, head of advocacy at France Nature Environnement, the French federation of nature and environmental protection associations. But at the end of this period, we realise that ecology is still subject to the will of the couple President of the Republic-Prime Minister and to the pressures of Bercy. »
A huge ministry
During his appointment, Béchu inherited a new pillar of ecological action. During his presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron promised to implement real ecological planning to carry out this “fight of the century” by completely reforming the government architecture: this is now being done with the establishment of a general secretariat for ecological planning (SGPE) in Matignon, which works with two key ministries: the energy transition and the ecological transition.
National secretary of Horizontes, Edouard Philippe’s party, and a keen expert on communities, Mr Béchu heads a huge ministry, both in terms of political balance and his extensive knowledge of the territories. With the help of the delegated ministers, he must manage environmental issues, but also local authorities, housing and the sea.
Rather far removed from the policy of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (the mission of the SGPE and the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher), Béchu is not, however, planning any major laws. He is instead focusing on day-to-day management of the environment and on several major plans: the water plan, presented by Emmanuel Macron on 30 March 2023, and in particular the third national plan for adaptation to climate change, which was due to be presented at the end of the first half of 2024 but which has been shaken by political developments.
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