A demonstration against climate change in Paris on March 28.
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Michel Euler / AP / SIPA
Christophe Castaner, Emmanuelle Wargon, and even Bruno Le Maire.
The government and the majority have welcomed the conclusions of an MIT publication, which ranks France as the fourth “greenest” country in the world.
The methodology of the report, however, questions.
40% of each country's final score is based on predictions.
This report was also sponsored.
“Yes, our environmental policy is ambitious.
"" We can act concretely, rather than shattering dreams.
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy and Finance, and Christophe Castaner, head of the LREM group in the Assembly, joined by several deputies from the majority, were full of praise for the government's policy in this area. of climate.
The source of their satisfaction?
A report which ranks France "the fourth greenest country in the world".
A welcome ranking for the executive, which has faced criticism from the opposition and specialists on its climate bill.
However, several scientists have pointed out several flaws in this publication.
Olivier Fontan, executive director of the High Council for the Climate, also highlighted shortcomings.
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The report, originally published by
MIT Technology Review
on Jan. 25, establishes a "Green Future Index".
The index ranks 76 countries "based on their progress and commitment to a low-carbon future."
Scientists are wondering about the methodology of the report, which was sponsored by three companies each benefiting from a full page of advertising in this document of around thirty pages.
In particular, 40% of the score is calculated from the policies undertaken by the country and its intentions to fight against climate change.
Promises that can be slow to be fulfilled or even canceled, for example in favor of a political alternation.
If France is ranked fourth greenest country in the world, it is because it is tied for second with Denmark on this issue of future commitments.
The authors underline French support for hydrogen, as well as a government support plan for Air France "accompanied by ecological conditions, such as
the introduction of sustainable fuel and the reduction of
internal links".
A methodology that questions
On the other hand,
France scores lower on the other four pillars of this report, which make up the remaining 60% of the score.
These axes are carbon emissions, energy transition, a “green society” and “clean innovation”.
For carbon emissions, France comes 13th.
Although our country appears to be well ranked, the methodology adopted by the authors of the report contains an important omission.
"We are talking about emissions only from the point of view of production and not of consumption," detailed researcher Frédéric Ghersi to the Huffington Post.
This means that the calculation does not take into account the emissions of products that France imports.
Reducing carbon emissions is one of the major points of the Paris agreement to reduce climate change.
In the report, our country ranks ninth for “clean innovation”, a ranking that takes into account patents in the green sector, cross-border investments in clean energy and “foodtech” startups, these companies specializing in new technologies and food.
On the other hand, for the energy transition and the “green society”, France arrives in 62nd and 57th places out of 76. In the “green society”, the authors include green buildings, recycling, consumption of meat and dairy products. and the evolution of afforestation.
Overall, eight of the top ten countries in the ranking are European, and seven of them are part of the EU.
The authors of the report stress that the EU "has put climate policies in place for more than ten years", which explains, in part, the good score of
his members.
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