It is an apparent paradox: the majority of French people understand that oil, gas and coal are the cause of climate change and they are not changing their way of life. According to 25my According to the Ademe barometer, 62% of French people are very aware of global warming, its causes and its risks. Why is it so difficult to establish a link between the understanding of climate danger and the efforts to be made?
“In general we can say that we are very aware of the problem, but are we aware of the solutions and their effectiveness? »says Mélusine Boon-Falleur, researcher in cognitive sciences and professor at Sciences Po Paris, in the “Human Chaleur” podcast. This is precisely the mission proposed by the “Human Chaleur” Festival of Ideas, organized on Saturday, December 14 in Paris, at the Théâtre de la Ville. (All information can be found here)
The Ademe barometer attests to this: let’s imagine that the French have no idea what it means to divide our CO emissions by five.2 By 2050, meeting the Paris Agreement targets to keep global warming below 2°C would be heading in the wrong direction. 58% think that the solutions “Limit climate change” are based on a “a significant change in our lifestyles”. A score that questions the feeling of generalized immobility in this area. “There is a real gap between the question of principles and the pragmatic question. The transition is complicated, it is an area where people are full of contradictions: they understand that fossil fuels are a real problem, but, in practice, it persists.”analyzes Daniel Boy, political scientist and coordinator of the barometer for a quarter of a century.
To illustrate this discrepancy, the politician cites the issue of mobility: transportation accounts for more than a third of our emissions. When we ask about the individual climate actions that respondents are already taking (separate waste, lower the heating, stop taking the plane for pleasure or reduce meat consumption at home, etc.), the use of transport in car sharing or the practice of carpooling or carsharing are at the end of the list. “And in this matter, the size of the municipality, which does not influence the rest of the proposed actions, becomes the first variable: in small municipalities you are not going to take the Blablacar to go shopping, withdraw money or take the bus. kids to school! »underlines Daniel Boy, who points out the instability of the discourse on electric vehicles, as well as the weakness and versatility of purchase assistance systems. “People are lost”he snapped. Overall, this year, for ten individual climate virtuous actions proposed out of sixteen, the survey shows a decrease in responses. “I already do it”. The beginning of demobilization? Less than a third of those questioned declared “do the best they can” to reduce their emissions. Except among very modest homes, where the proportion is higher: 44% have this feeling.
On the contrary, the barometer shows that respondents have high expectations about public policies. Develop renewable energies, prohibit the advertising of products with a strong impact on the environment, tax polluting vehicles, force vegetarian menus to be offered in canteens, tax air transport… all these measures, already considered desirable by a large number of people. majority, is gaining more and more support. If they are decided at a high level, will it be enough to put the entire society on the rails of the ecological transition? It all depends on the path. It is this question of method that a recent research note from the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) attempts to answer, entitled “When we can, we want”, inverting the well-known proverb that makes rest the destiny of people. in his will.
“The dominant idea today is that people have the information and therefore will act, it is practical and we would like it to work, but in real life it does not happen like that, lifestyles have multiple limitations: the infrastructure of the place where we live, the range of products, the social standards, the financial capabilities of the people…”analyzes Mathieu Saujot, director of the Iddri Lifestyles in Transition program and coordinator of the study. At the heart of the latter is the idea that it is necessary to take into account the diversity of social groups and, consequently, chart a diversity of trajectories towards the ecological transition. The possibility of changing the diet, for example, depends on the number of nearby stores, the existence on the shelves of vegetable products that are practical to cook, the price difference between organic and conventional products, the acceptability of cooking a meal from Christmas without meat.
According to the researchers, it is therefore up to public authorities and companies to take all these parameters into account to allow people to make climate decisions in their consumption of goods and services. “When we limit ourselves to a logic focused on consumer responsibility, we only hire convinced people, those who cannot or those who are not respectful of the environment do not follow, an approach based on lifestyles allows us to involve everyone »warns Mathieu Saujot. On the contrary, leaving people out of the transition would have harmful effects. “Change orders, when they cannot be implemented, create frustration: not only do they not work but they create political disorder and, therefore, are very dangerous”concludes.
