Ecocide, car, food: the Citizen Climate Convention makes its proposals

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The Citizen Climate Convention makes its proposals on Sunday to fight global warming "in a spirit of social justice". Some could lead to a referendum.

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It will be the day after the municipal elections. On June 29, Emmanuel Macron is to receive the “150 citizens” who make up the Citizens Climate Convention to provide them with “  first responses  ”. The president has repeatedly said he is open to the idea of ​​directly questioning the French on environmental issues, brought back to the center of public debate by the Covid-19 crisis.

The Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition Elisabeth Borne receives this Sunday, June 21, on behalf of the executive, the proposals of the Convention. Questioned in the Journal du Dimanche, she also declared, "  in a personal capacity  ", "  favorable to a referendum  ". "  Multiple questions would make it possible to share the work  " of the Convention "  with all French people  ". "  The organization would take time, but it would be useful to mature the ecological conscience  ", judges the minister.

Discarded carbon tax

The Convention's proposals also come at a time when the executive is working on its recovery plan in the face of the recession into which the pandemic has plunged the economy. The head of state had decided to organize this exercise in participatory democracy unprecedented in France after the crisis of "yellow vests", triggered by the announcement of a carbon tax on fuels.

The Citizens' Convention, mandated to propose measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, in any case did not put the idea of ​​such a tax back on the table, but proposed almost 150 others measures. Its members will still have to decide this Sunday to know if they would like to see some of them subject to a referendum.

► Read also: Climate: how the members of the Citizens' Convention work

Speed ​​limited to 110km / h on the highway

One of the most controversial measures, the reduction of working time to four days (28 hours) per week, was largely (65%) rejected this Saturday, the only one not to be adopted by the members. In addition to the consequences for businesses, many of the 150 were worried about the image that such a proposal would give of their work: "  We will pass for puppets  ", launched one of the members.

Another measure that should polarize public opinion, the reduction of speed on the highway from 130 to 110km / ha garnered 60% of the vote. The proposal unsurprisingly sparked the ire of automobile associations, echoing the discontent already triggered by the 80km / h .

Advertising framework, taxes on processed food

Several other measures aim to reduce the place of the private car, notably with an "  improvement of the sustainable mobility package  ". The Convention also proposes to reinforce the ecological bonus-penalty on vehicles and aid for long-term rental, as well as to grant loans at zero rate for the purchase of clean vehicles. It also recommends a ban from 2025 on the sale of new highly emitting vehicles (more than 110 grams of CO2 per kilometer) and to ban city centers from the most polluting vehicles.

Among other measures is a strong advertising framework, with banning signs in outdoor public space and advertising for products with a high carbon footprint, such as large SUV type vehicles. Added to this are heavy taxes on ultra-processed food, the ban on GMO seeds, a higher tax on nitrogen fertilizers, the halving in 2030 of the use of pesticides and the ban on the most dangerous of here 2035.

Ecocide crime, constitution and "defender of the environment"

The list also includes a ban on heated terraces or the lighting of shops at night, or a tax on corporate dividends to finance the transformation of the productive tool.

The Convention also calls for the introduction into French criminal law of a crime of "  ecocide  " - a proposal recently rejected in the Senate and the National Assembly - and the creation of a "  high authority  " responsible for enforcing the "  Planetary limits  " deemed sustainable for the survival of humanity - global warming limited to 2 degrees, for example.

It also requests the inclusion in the Constitution of the preservation of biodiversity, the environment and the fight against climate change, the creation of an "  environmental defender  " and to renew the experience of the Citizens' Convention , possibly as part of a reform of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese), which hosted their work.

► To listen to: The Climate Convention, a citizen experience

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