Where is France in the Paris climate agreement ?

On April 22, 2016, the first universal agreement on climate and global warming was signed : the Paris Agreement on Climate. A total of 195 countries pledged to take action to “put the world on track to avert dangerous climate change, keeping global warming well below 2°C“. Two and a half years later, where is France in this Paris Agreement  and what about other countries ?

Partially applied Paris Agreement

Unfortunately, France is for the moment part of the “bad students”. However, François de Rugy, French Minister for Ecological Transition, is optimistic. He intends to reduce CO2 emissions in 2025 by 20% and by 20% in 2030 ! The position of the French minister and this optimism is surprising, to say the least, because none of the reports shows satisfactory results. On the contrary, France’s CO2 emissions are on the rise: + 3.2% in 2017 (against + 1.8% on average in Europe). The transport, agriculture, construction and industry sectors, as well as energy production and waste treatment, are the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. For France, the objectives of the Paris Agreements seem very far away… It is even possible that it would come back on its promises and reduce much less than expected its greenhouse gas emissions. This is a shameful situation for a country that has been at the forefront of the fight against global warming. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron received in September 2018 the title of “Champion of the Earth” at the “One Planet Summit” which comes “reward outstanding […] figures whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment “.

The Paris Agreement needs a new breath

France is far from an isolated case of non-compliance with the Paris Agreement. According to the World Resources Institute, which specializes in environmental issues, only 16 countries would actually apply the Paris Agreement. Many are also lowering their ambitions for reducing CO2 emissions. For example, Germany, which hoped to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020, lowered its target to 32%. Some European countries have not set national targets. Not to mention the countries that are withdrawing from the Paris Agreements, such as the United States or Australia, responsible for 15% and 1.46% of global greenhouse gas emissions respectively.

Does not the Paris Agreement need a new breath to be fully respected ? In order to dive CO2 emissions urgently and make polluting countries and companies pay rather than citizens, Gilles Lazzarini, founder of the OMPE, wants to set up the Big World Environmental Trials (BWET). Every month, these trials will aim to judge policies and multi-national for their action against climate, pollution and biodiversity.

For more information : Big World Environmental Trials : it’s time to judge politics and multi-nationals !