The High Climate Council (HCC) deplored on Friday, September 27 “recent credit cancellations” budget that “Damage trust in the climate transition”while savings have been made in the area of the environment.
“Achieving carbon neutrality requires allocating multi-year public and private financing estimated between 60 and 70 billion euros in additional annual investments by 2030 and at the same time stopping fossil fuel subsidies”underlines the independent organization, which publishes the public version of its annual report.
“The recent cancellations of credits and the maintenance of these subsidies damage confidence in the climate transition”criticizes the HCC, which brings together a panel of experts (in climatology, economics, agronomy, etc.) in charge of evaluating public climate action.
Cut of several billion euros
This position comes at a time when the government seeks to reduce a growing public deficit. In February it announced savings of ten billion euros, including two billion euros less for programs “Ecology, sustainable development and mobility”.
Furthermore, the preparatory letters of the ceiling for the draft 2025 budget suggest that new credits allocated to the green fund, the government program aimed at accelerating the ecological transition in local communities, will be reduced by almost €1.5 billion.
The HCC also once again shows its impatience in judging the adoption of laws and planning documents in the field of energy and climate. “urgent” and urging the government and Parliament to give “clear and stable direction”. He thus cites the new national low carbon strategy (SNBC), the third national plan for adaptation to climate change (PNACC-3) and the multiannual energy programming (PPE).
“France’s second carbon budget (2019-2023) will probably not be respected due to the collapse of the forest carbon sink”degraded by warming, also remembers the HCC, highlighting the importance of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.
However, France has respected the roadmap it set for this period in terms of gross emissions, without taking into account the absorption of CO2 by forests and soils. But taking into account the contribution of carbon sinks, the objectives could not be achieved, according to the HCC, which estimates the possible exceedance at 15 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
