The first round of the presidential election is approaching without the question of the ecological transition having really been able to break into the debates.
And it's not all about climate change and the necessary energy transition to achieve carbon neutrality.
The other ecological challenge of the 21st century is to better preserve biodiversity.
What do the twelve candidates propose on this issue?
20 Minutes
offers you an overview.
It is not only on climate change that scientific warnings are multiplying.
"Nature is declining globally at an unprecedented rate in human history and the rate of extinction of species is accelerating", observed the scientists of Ipbes - the equivalent of the IPCC on biodiversity issues - in May 2019.
With a touch of hope all the same.
“It is not too late to act, but only if we start doing so now at all levels, from local to global,” the report pointed out.
Forest management, plastic pollution, hunting (see box), pesticides, soil artificialisation… The field of action is wide and complex.
With, as a red thread, "the need to understand that all the living species with which we cohabit also need spaces, resources, infrastructures to move", slips Arnaud Schwartz, president of France nature environment (FNE) .
Jadot and Mélenchon again the best students?
Are the twelve presidential candidates ready to make more room for the wild world?
The answer is yes for Yannick Jadot (EELV) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI).
As with climate change, both are the ones that make the best copy.
At least this is the opinion of FNE, which has examined the programs and surveyed, for additional answers, six candidates (the main ones in its eyes).
Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon distinguish themselves by making concrete (and often detailed) proposals on the main issues related to the preservation of biodiversity.
This is the case against the artificialization of soils, "one of the major causes of the disappearance of biodiversity", recalls Arnaud Schwartz.
The EELV candidate will include the “zero artificialisation” rule in territorial planning documents before 2025. It also provides for a rehabilitation plan for industrial and urban wastelands and a moratorium on e-commerce warehouses.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon adds “the renunciation of unnecessary and imposed major projects”.
The two candidates also plan to immediately ban the most dangerous pesticides and gradually reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Yannick Jadot gives more details, counting on a halving by 2027. They also include the issue of sustainable forest management.
With the aim of prohibiting clear cuts or getting out of tree monocultures to move towards forests with more diversified species.
“We will protect 10% of French forests in free evolution [human interventions reduced to a minimum] with at least 2% of protected area in each region”, slips Yannick Jadot.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon outbids 25%.
On the other hand, with regard to the reinforcement of protected areas, the rebellious only speaks about it on the perimeter of the seas and oceans,
when the candidate of the Greens displays the objective of reaching 40% of protected areas on French land territory by 2030, including 5% in strong protection in each region.
Finally, the two candidates intend to strengthen the legal protection of animals and their representation in our institutions, up to, for example, creating a ministry responsible for animal protection or modifying the Constitution.
Anne Hidalgo on the podium for FNE
So much for the Jadot-Mélenchon match, which FNE concludes with a draw: five hedgehogs (the emblem of the Federation) each.
The maximum score.
"Anne Hidalgo's program is not so bad either," agrees Arnaud Schwartz.
Enough anyway to land four hedgehogs.
"The protection of common goods, biodiversity, [...] the principle of non-regression in the protection of the environment [...] will be enshrined in the Constitution", promises the PS candidate.
It will also create a post of “Environmental Defender” and will appoint, as number two in the government, a Minister for Climate, Biodiversity and the Economy.
It also shows the desire to get out of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, "rapidly for the most toxic like glyphosate", and within the first 100 days for neonicotinoids.
In his responses to FNE,
With three hedgehogs, Valérie Pécresse is a notch below.
Candidate LR does not commit, for example, to zero net artificialisation, but proposes several concrete measures on the subject, such as the renaturation of 50% of industrial wastelands.
Regarding the oceans, it is aiming for a 0% plastic objective by signing an agreement with the countries bordering the Mediterranean.
Other proposals complete the list, but they all fit in a few words.
"Environmental issues are not a priority in its program", concludes FNE.
Furthermore, on the release of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, Valérie Pécresse refuses the "zero phyto" strategy in the absence of an alternative and says she wants to opt for a realistic approach.
Above all,
Emmanuel Macron's impasse?
And Emmanuel Macron in all this?
The outgoing president mainly talks about the results of his five-year term and remains very evasive about what he would do if there is a second one.
In his program, he just says he wants to "plant 140 million trees by the end of the decade, or two trees per Frenchman" and "always better protect our coasts, mountains, forests and natural spaces".
"He did not answer our questions either," laments Arnaud Schwartz.
Result: only two hedgehogs, which places him in last place in the ranking, tied with Fabien Roussel.
However, the PC candidate is more talkative.
He is also one of the few to ensure that France will join the moratorium proposed by the IUCN on the exploitation and mining exploration of the seabed.
What Emmanuel Macron did not do last summer.
A very good point for Greenpeace.
Finally, it promises better preservation of woods and forests through sustainable management and the diversity of plantations.
"The share of protected areas, land and sea, will be increased to 30%", he specifies.
But the objective is already in the law, recalls FNE who also regrets that Fabien Roussel ignores the issue of the artificialization of the soil.
It also says nothing about the topics of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture.
On the far right, no animal welfare for wildlife?
These first candidates are therefore those that FNE wished to question in its investigation.
Is she missing something with the other six?
Not always.
The preservation of biodiversity is not an issue mentioned by Jean Lassalle (Resistons) or Nathalie Arthaud (Lutte Ouvrière).
Philippe Poutou (NPA) announces "the ban on chemical inputs", "the nationalization of forests of more than 20 hectares" or "no more than 10% of artificialized territory and 10% classified as natural reserves".
But nothing more and without ever developing.
It is hardly better on the side of Eric Zemmour (Reconquest) and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la France), whose programs are nevertheless among the most copious.
Both want to restrict the construction of new supermarkets and commercial areas at the entrance to cities, but more with a view to revitalizing city centers than reducing land take.
Otherwise, Eric Zemmour will lead soil depollution sites, increase the penalties against the practice of illegal dumping or create a large ministry of rurality, agriculture and coasts.
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, he will launch a major plan to fight against plastic pollution of the oceans and a Mediterranean plan.
Both candidates address the issue of animal welfare well, but briefly and only for domestic and farm animals.
An observation that also applies to Marine Le Pen, who devotes sixteen pages to the subject.
She proposes to grant constitutional recognition to animals, create a new civil status for them, reinforce the penalties for offenses committed against them… But the RN candidate ranks them.
“The protection granted to animals and the duties of each towards them are determined by distinguishing between whether they are pets, domestic animals, tamed animals, kept in captivity or whether they live in the wild”, she writes.
And the measures proposed in this chapter "do not aim to ban hunting", it is also specified there.
However,
Marine Le Pen does not show herself to be totally without regard for the wild world.
It will subordinate the authorizations for the use of fertilizers and pesticides (by product and by quantity) to the annual evolution of populations of witness wild species.
It will also financially encourage farmers who participate in the maintenance of biodiversity and rural landscapes (restoration of hedges, wetlands, wood, etc.).
On the other hand, not a word on the sustainable management of forests, the strengthening of protected natural areas or the fight against plastic pollution...
It will also financially encourage farmers who participate in the maintenance of biodiversity and rural landscapes (restoration of hedges, wetlands, wood, etc.).
On the other hand, not a word on the sustainable management of forests, the strengthening of protected natural areas or the fight against plastic pollution...
It will also financially encourage farmers who participate in the maintenance of biodiversity and rural landscapes (restoration of hedges, wetlands, wood, etc.).
On the other hand, not a word on the sustainable management of forests, the strengthening of protected natural areas or the fight against plastic pollution...
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Hunting, the subject that has become unavoidable?
We imagine the puzzle subject for the candidates.
Impossible to escape the subject of hunting, as it has become essential in recent months.
There are the pros, who place this practice in the French traditions to be maintained.
There is therefore no question of limiting it.
This is the case of Eric Zemmour, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Jean Lassalle, Marine Le Pen, Valérie Pécresse.
We can add Emmanuel Macron, who has spoken little officially on the subject.
But "you know better than anyone that he has a special attachment to hunting and hunters", recalled Marc Fesnau, minister in charge of relations with Parliament, who came to represent the outgoing president at the congress of the National Federation of Hunters on March 22. .
On the left, Fabien Roussel stands out by defending "hunting practiced as a popular leisure activity in our country".
While he does not say he supports hunting with hounds, he does not come out clearly on the question of prohibiting "cruel and barbaric hunting and trapping practices", any more than on "prohibiting hunting for species in decline”, two measures on which the rest of the candidates on the left align themselves.
Roussel is also against banning hunting on weekends and during school holidays.
But, this time, he is not the only one on the left: Anne Hidalgo is also opposed to it, and Nathalie Arthaud is only for the ban on weekends.
The rest, Yannick Jadot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Philippe Poutou are for.
The EELV candidate goes even further by wanting to end the hunting license for life,
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