- Monday, the 150 members of the citizens' convention will have the first elements of responses from the government regarding their 149 proposals to reduce by 40% our greenhouse gas emissions with a view to social justice
- Their work could end there. Mélanie, William, Lambert and Marie still intend to extend this unprecedented experience, like the majority of the 150 members of the convention, they assure "20 Minutes".
- There is still a lot to do to defend their relationship. One association has even set up - "The 150" - with the aim of monitoring the political appropriation of their measures over time, but also of prolonging the debate.
The 150 members of the Citizen Climate Convention still have some work to do this weekend. This time, it is no longer a question of identifying and debating solutions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. This mission, they completed it on Sunday by submitting their report to Elisabeth Borne, Minister for the Ecological Transition.
No, this weekend, there is a speech to prepare. And not in front of anyone. The entire convention was invited to the Elysée Palace at the end of the morning Monday by Emmanuel Macron, who had wanted this convention as a response to the "yellow vests" crisis.
"We got too involved to let go so suddenly"
What will they tell him? "This is the subject of the chains of discussions that we have 150 in recent days, says Lambert Allaerd, drawn to be one of the six members to speak before the president. "We are not going to go into detail on our 149 proposals," continues the Lille 29-year-old. We won't have time and Emmanuel Macron already knows them. "The idea is much more to come back to this experience and to express our expectations from now on," follows Sarthoise Mélanie Cosnier, also drawn by lot.
Then curtain? The time, finally, for these 150 citizens, to definitively close this parenthesis started by a draw and to return to their former life? “Impossible,” replies Willam Aucant, a 33-year-old architect and town planner from Nantes, also in the 150's. We got too involved in this mission for us to suddenly let go of it. "
An experience that will leave a lasting impression
An observation also made by Lambert, Mélanie and Marie *, 34, also contacted by 20 Minutes . All speak of this convention as an experience that will lastingly mark their lives, or even change its course. "A slap", still evokes Willam Aucant. "Before this phone call proposing me to join the convention, I had a few ideas on ecology, I even thought myself rather virtuous by not having a car," he begins. Through discussions with the various experts interviewed, I understood that it was necessary to go far beyond simple changes in our lifestyles, that it was more structural. I remember this diagram presented to us by Laurence Tubiana [ambassador for negotiations at COP21 in Paris] explaining that we had thirty years to reduce the carbon footprint of the French from twelve tonnes to two tonnes. Thirty years is nothing. "
Lambert, for his part, dwells more on the experience of participatory democracy lived for nine months. "I witnessed exchanges of equals between people who would never have talked to each other in normal life," he says. And then, there was this crazy side to be able to launch an idea and, immediately, gauge its social acceptability through the reactions it aroused within the convention [supposed to be the perfect mirror of French society]. On this point, Marie notes almost a bias: "Were we still the same and also representative of French society after the hearings of the various experts?" She asks. But that's also what I take away from this experience: when you give all the information to a group of citizens, and give them time to debate, you come to significant consensus on initially divisive subjects. Among the 149 proposals, many were voted with 96% or 97% of the votes. "
“The 110 km / h also caused debate at the convention”
The result of all this work is a large block of 400 pages of which Mélanie, Lambert, Marie and William say they are very "proud". Even if the report has not been spared by critics since last Sunday. Those in particular of Arnaud Gossement, lawyer specialist in the environment, pointing out the "oversights" of the convention, starting with that of the carbon tax, powerful tool to lower our greenhouse gas emissions, but very divisive. Witness the yellow vests crisis. "This is not an oversight, the carbon tax has been addressed on several occasions," corrects William Aucant. But our mission was not only to identify solutions that lower our greenhouse gas emissions. They also had to be socially just. In the eyes of the majority, the carbon tax did not meet this second criterion. "Several participants in the convention also said they did not want the government to use them to pass the carbon tax, Marie adds. An argument that I can understand. Not that bad, there were many other avenues to explore. "
Like that of reducing the speed from 130 to 110 km / h on highways. This proposal caused an uproar [74% of French people would be opposed to it, according to a Odoxa-Dentsu consulting survey, for Franceinfo and Le Figaro ] , to the point of overshadowing the other 148 proposals. Frustrating? "We expected it, as this proposal has also sparked debate among us," says Marie. This is also the measure that received the least votes on Sunday (60%). "The first time we talked about 110 km / h, it was" niet "for the majority of members, recalls Lambert Allaerd. Little by little, by working on this measure, many have overcome the initial blocking and said why not? It is quick to set up, free, allows greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 20% per journey, only wastes eight minutes every 100 km ... "
"Just season 2 which begins"
Mélanie, Lambert, Marie and William hope that the debate in society will follow the same path. And that we will give the same interest to the 148 other proposals. This is why the adventure is far from ending on Monday. "It's just season 2 which begins, smiles Mélanie Cosnier. The dissolution of the convention, last Sunday, was immediately followed by the creation of an association, Les 150. "One hundred and twenty citizens of the convention have joined it to date," said William Aucant, who saw it as a sign that the majority intends to remain invested.
"Our mission, from now on, is to share our experience with the French, explain why we arrived at these 149 proposals and invite as many people as possible to debate and reflect on these measures", explains Lambert Allaerd. This will be done in particular with "Clim'apéros", which had already taken the habit of organizing the members of the convention almost everywhere in France and which "Les 150" intends to continue.
Emmanuel Macron's promise in the back of his mind
The report returned, it also remains to follow, in time, the use that will make the policy of their 149 proposals. Marie does not expect to have all the answers on Monday. "We will be in the aftermath of the municipal elections, LREM will no doubt have taken a big slap and we know that EELV candidates are well placed to win major cities," she begins. In this context, I can see Emmanuel Macron taking up two or three strong proposals from our report. If that stays there, it will of course be insufficient. "
Everyone has Emmanuel Macron's initial promise in mind: that of transmitting the convention's proposals "without filter", either by regulation, by law, or by referendum. "There is no question of letting go of it," insists Lambert Allaerd. William Aucan also reminds us that the response of citizens to the response of the government is already planned. "History to have the last word," he smiles. But the Nantes also does not say hanged on the lips of the government. "This is also the aim of the association" Les 150 ", he explains. To be able to be available, everywhere in France, to all those who want to discuss our report and bring our 149 proposals, whether they are parliamentarians, NGOs or citizens ”.
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* At her request, her prenon was modified
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