Parliament definitively adopts the climate law, much criticized by NGOs

The National Assembly and the Senate have definitively adopted the climate bill.

According to NGOs and members of the Citizen's Climate Convention, the bill had been "unraveled" by the government and emptied of its meaning.

The members of the government welcomed the adoption of this law. 

Faced with "the climate emergency", Parliament definitively adopted the climate bill on Tuesday, an "ecological turning point" touted by the government but strongly criticized by NGOs and the left for its "lack of ambition".

Inspired by the work of the 150 members of the Citizen's Climate Convention, this dense text was widely supported in the Assembly by 233 votes to 35, after adoption by show of hands in the Senate with a right-wing majority.

A compromise had been found between the two chambers after long negotiations a week ago.

A "huge cultural shift"

"The result of an unprecedented democratic exercise initiated by the Citizen's Convention for the Climate", this law "will bring ecology into our lives and preserve the environment in our daily actions", rejoiced Prime Minister Jean. Castex on Twitter. 

Adopted!

The result of an unprecedented democratic exercise initiated by the Citizen's Convention for the Climate, the # ClimatResilience law will bring ecology into our lives and preserve the environment in our daily actions.

Proud of the work accomplished and its historical significance!

https://t.co/zNWZ58IPRr

- Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) July 20, 2021

In front of parliamentarians, the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili praised a "huge cultural shift" and an ecology of "common sense" with measures such as the removal of domestic airlines in case of alternatives in the process of less than 2:30 or the ban on the rental of "thermal strainers" - housing classified G and F - in 2025 and 2028. She referred to the devastating floods in Germany and Belgium to call for mobilization in these "troubled and difficult times" of a "breathless planet".

A law criticized by NGOs and members of the Citizens' Convention

However, the government finds itself at odds with members of the Citizens' Convention and environmental NGOs who denounce the "unraveling" of their proposals and a law of "renouncements". After several marches for "a real climate law", a new demonstration took place Tuesday near the Assembly against a text of "small steps" during a "five-year term lost for the climate".

Presented in early 2021, the bill reflects part of the 146 proposals of the Convention that Emmanuel Macron had retained.

The constitutional aspect, in order to engrave the climate in the Fundamental Law by referendum, was abandoned for lack of agreement between the two chambers.

Associated with other texts and the recovery plan, this climate bill "allows" France "to move towards the objective of -40%" of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, we assure the Ministry of Ecological Transition, which promises an "application" of the text "as soon as possible".

"Additional measures will be necessary"

But the High Council for the Climate, an independent body, and the Council of State, the highest French administrative court, express serious doubts about the capacity of the State to respect its commitments of the Paris Agreement of 2015. This law "makes it possible to set a course" but "additional measures will be necessary", estimated the LR rapporteur of the Senate Marta de Cidrac. 

Especially since the French trajectory should be even more demanding, with the new climate package unveiled by the European Union.

The Commission, which aims to reduce the continent's emissions by 55% in 2030 compared to 1990, calls for a ban on the sale of thermal vehicles from 2035 - a French law of 2019 aims for 2040.

The result of long negotiations

In the meantime, the bill has already given rise to many showdowns. Against a "punitive ecology", the senatorial right has scrapped to the end in an attempt to delay the deployment in 2025 of low-emission zones, without polluting vehicles, in agglomerations of more than 150,000 inhabitants. Senators have stepped up certain aspects such as advertising, with the 2028 ban on advertising for the most polluting vehicles, in order to prepare consumers for the end of their marketing. 

Marked by the movement of "yellow vests", born of a tax on fuels, the government has regularly underlined the need to combine "ecological ambition" and "social acceptability".

The possible implementation of a heavy goods vehicle eco-tax will be limited to voluntary regions, or even border regions such as Alsace.

On the agricultural side, a tax on nitrogenous fertilizers is only "considered" if the emission reduction targets are not met.

"Despite some symbolic victories" such as the generalization of a weekly vegetarian menu in canteens, this text "leaves us with a feeling of waste", judges the NGO WWF France.

In the Assembly, the left and non-members of ecological sensitivity like Cédric Villani voted against a "catalog of adjustments". The PS even defended a motion of rejection in vain. On the right, the LR are worried about a "judicialization" of environmental issues, criticizing in particular the offense of "ecocide" provided for in the law.