• The last major environmental law of the five-year term, the Climate and Resilience Bill should help France achieve the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.

  • The government deplored the numerous setbacks approved by the Senate after its examination of the text at the end of June.

    From low-emission zones to the ban on renting energy-inefficient accommodation, including vegetarian menus, “Yes Pub”.

  • In this context, it was unlikely that the joint committee would be conclusive. However, last night, after nine hours, deputies and senators came to an agreement, paving the way for a final adoption by the end of July.

It was far from won, but the Joint Joint Commission (CMP) on the Climate and Resilience Bill was conclusive on Monday evening. The CMP, made up of seven deputies for as many senators, are set up when the two parliamentary chambers fail to agree on a bill. And on the Climate and Resilience project, the last major environmental law of the five-year term and which reflects part of the 146 proposals of the Citizen's Climate Convention, there were many points of disagreement. Pompili, and the Senate, dominated by the right.

Finally, after nine hours of discussions - "which makes it probably one of the longest CMP in the history of the Republic", we slip at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, an agreement was found.

"The red lines have not been crossed"

After the examination of the Climate Bill by the Senate, completed on June 29, the government had pointed out several setbacks endorsed by the upper chamber on the text as it had been voted by the National Assembly.

And had then made the return to the previous version a

sine qua non

condition

for reaching a conclusive CMP.

"The red lines set by the government have not been crossed," we welcomed this Tuesday in the entourage of Barbara Pompili. The main one concerned low-emission zones (ZFE), a system supported by the State and allowing urban areas to restrict traffic to the most polluting vehicles on their territory. The text initially proposed the generalization of EPZs to agglomerations of more than 150,000 inhabitants by 2025, then prohibiting the circulation in these areas of vehicles from Crit'Air 3. The Senate had postponed their implementation by five years. in place. The CMP returned to 2025 overnight.

The Senate also rolled back the ban on the rental of E-rated housing by six years, from 2034 to 2040. The original date has been restored.

Another major sticking point is that of vegetarian menus in school canteens.

Since November 2019, as part of the Egalim law of 2018, an experiment has been launched to offer students a vegetarian menu of their choice once a week.

The National Assembly voted for its generalization in April, the Senate going back over it to prefer an extension of the experiment already in progress.

The CMP returned to the principle of generalization.

Advances voted by the Senate also preserved

The version of the National Assembly was also restored on the issue of nitrogen fertilizers. To reduce the use by agriculture, the government envisaged, via this bill, a tax on these nitrogenous fertilizers, if ever the trajectory of decrease in ammonia emissions [resulting mainly from the use of nitrogen fertilizer] was not held for two consecutive years. The Senate had rejected this idea of ​​a royalty, preferring a non-binding “Eco-Azot” plan to support farmers.

"The Senators had also deleted an article from the bill which allowed mayors to regulate lighting devices in shop windows, it has been restored as a CMP", continues a collaborator of Barbara Pompili.

The CMP also reinstated the experiment of the “Yes pub” which the Senate had withdrawn.

This device will prohibit the distribution of leaflets in mailboxes unless the owners give their approval via this “Yes advertising” sticker.

We are going to bring ecology into our lives.

# ClimateResilience pic.twitter.com/W6Bd0gloiJ

- Barbara Pompili (@barbarapompili) July 12, 2021

Agreements were also found on the energy side of the bill, particularly on wind power. The Senate had voted the principle of a right of veto of the mayors on the installation of wind turbines in their communes against the opinion of Barbara Pompili, who feared the "taking hostage of these elected by certain associations, by certain groups" . "This right of veto no longer appears in the text, but the mayors will be well consulted for the projects of wind farms, which makes it possible to take into account the concerns pointed out by the Senators", we slip to the Ministry of Ecological transition.

On Twitter, Barbara Pompili also cites advances voted in the Senate which were retained at the end of the CMP.

In particular, the ban on the use of nitrogen fertilizers in non-agricultural areas.

The same goes for the ban, from 2028, on advertising in favor of the sale or promoting the purchase of the most polluting cars (which emit more than 123 g / km CO2).

The Senate had added this measure to the Climate Bill, which until then only provided for the ban on advertising on fossil fuels.

The end of the parliamentary process before the end of July

In the end, this bill should consist of around 320 articles. This Climate and Resilience bill now remains to be definitively voted on. This should be done at the National Assembly next Tuesday, at the end of the afternoon, after questions to the government. There will also be a vote in the Senate, the date of which has not yet been set. Be that as it may, "the parliamentary process will be finished before the end of July," one says, still at the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

This bill should help France to try to achieve the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, but is widely criticized by environmental NGOs and ecologists for its "lack of 'ambition ".

"Nothing of what was voted in the text is up to the initial proposals of the 150 citizens of the citizens' convention", recalls, on Twitter, the Climate Action Network, before unfolding its remarks.

#LoiClimat: curtain!


Against all expectations, the parliamentarians put an end to the suspense yesterday at midnight & reached an agreement on the whole of the text.


Who says "agreement" says "compromise", and therefore setbacks ...


We can decipher the final battle which took place behind closed doors ⬇ pic.twitter.com/wq3OEBbrrc

- Climate Action Network (@RACFrance) July 13, 2021

This lack of ambition pointed out by NGOs could be even more glaring from this Wednesday.

The European Commission must present a series of proposals to enable the European Union to meet its new climate target for 2030, recently reduced from minus 40% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990, to minus 55 %.

Expected repercussions for France, which should in turn have to revise its climate ambitions upwards.

Planet

Climate Bill: Why are the executive and the Senate arguing over windmills?

Planet

Trains, nitrogen fertilizers, vegetarian menu, e-commerce… What fate does the Senate have in store for the Climate and Resilience Bill?

  • Planet

  • Environment

  • Weather

  • Senate

  • Law Project