French President Emmanuel Macron during a new meeting with members of the citizens' climate convention on December 14.

-

Jacques Witt / SIPA

"The choices made for ecology must be acceptable to the French," Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday, launching his meeting with the members of the Citizen's Convention for the Climate (CCC), against a background of fears of a possible unraveling of their proposals to fight against global warming.

By introducing the debate, the Head of State also insisted on the need to take into account the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to lead the ecological transition.

"The measures we were proposing are all diminished"

With this crisis, “we cannot act as if nothing had happened” since its first debate, last January, with the 150 citizens who must complete their mission in early 2021.

For this third meeting with the Head of State, 132 of them responded, including 74 at the headquarters of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese), in Paris, where Emmanuel Macron was accompanied by seven ministers for a meeting scheduled for three hours.

The first member of the CCC to speak, Christine, a woman living in “a small village” in the Alps, raised the debate by calling on the president: “You have the opportunity to go down in history by making strong decisions.

So, dare, Mr. President! ”.

Because, she regretted, "we note that the measures which we propose are all diminished".

The unfiltered, not a substitution for the role of government and parliament

Emmanuel Macron had pledged in June to resume "without filter" 146 of the 149 proposals of the CCC, aimed at reducing by at least 40% the greenhouse gas emissions of France "in a spirit of social justice" .

But since then, the citizens drawn by lot and who have worked hard for nine months, have regretted the lack of "general ambition" for the climate and "clear support" from the executive for their proposals.

The Head of State justified himself by explaining that, for him, the “unfiltered” recovery could not “be a substitution” for the role of government and Parliament, “which has a mandate to represent the people”.

"This + without filter + is the idea that we go to the end of each proposal that you have made (...) in the dialogue", he underlined.

"Nothing will be done behind the curtain," he promised.

The climate bill still under development

Part of the CCC's proposals must be taken into account in the climate bill, expected at the end of January, with certain emblematic measures still in the balance, such as the energy renovation of buildings or a limitation of advertising.

"We have not finished the work to decide whether the global thermal renovation of housing should be mandatory," said Emmanuel Macron, addressing, point by point, the five themes: moving, housing, consuming, producing and working, to eat.

"No government has done so much for ecology", reiterated the head of state, adding that "fifty" of the proposals of the CCC had already "been implemented or are underway. 'be".

"Is it sufficient?

No.

Should we do more?

Yes.

If we want to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, we need to have a curve that is more ambitious over the next ten years, ”he added, while the EU has just adopted more stringent targets. occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

"The choices made for ecology must be acceptable to the French"

But, he warned, "the choices made for ecology must be acceptable to the French", recalling that the Citizens' Convention was "precisely born because the carbon tax had not been accepted by our fellow citizens. ", Leading to the" yellow vests "crisis.

The President of the Republic has also insisted on the need to take measures within a European framework, not only French.

"The eco-charge only makes sense if it is applied on a European scale", he said, also citing the implementation of a possible tax on air transport.

Members of the CCC had been shocked by recent statements by the head of state, such as his ironic comparison with a "return to the oil lamp" of the CCC proposal for a moratorium on the deployment of 5G.

Or when he got carried away by throwing: “I don't mean that because the 150 citizens wrote something, it's the Bible or the Koran”.

Government's "falsely reasonable" speech?

One of the first promoters, and "guarantor" of the Convention, director Cyril Dion, launched an online petition last month to "save the CCC" which has exceeded 415,000 signatures.

"In fact, Mr. President, you should have adopted stronger measures than the ones we have proposed!"



👉 The gap between the realism of the members of the #CCC on ecology and the falsely reasonable speech of the President and members of the Government is striking.

2/2

- Matthieu ORPHELIN (@M_Orphelin) December 14, 2020

"The gap between the realism of the members of the CCC and the deceptively reasonable speech of the President and members of the Government is striking," tweeted deputy Matthieu Orphelin (ex-LREM), reacting to the first exchanges.

Planet

Citizens' convention: The government gives a first overview of its climate bill




  • Environment

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Planet

  • Weather

  • Global warming

  • Law Project