Macron-Le Pen: on climate and the environment, the account is not there according to NGOs
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have two different visions of the revision of French institutions.
© AP/Jean-Francois Badias/Daniel Cole/Editing RFI
Text by: Jeanne Richard Follow
4 mins
The day after the first round of the presidential election, on April 10, Greenpeace estimated on Twitter that the qualification of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen was "
a defeat for the climate and more broadly for the environment
" and judged their program insufficient or even worrying.
And yet, the IPCC, the international group of experts on the climate, has just published a report recalling the urgency of the situation.
A peak in greenhouse gas emissions should be reached within three years to "
guarantee a livable future
" for humanity, according to scientists.
Overview of what the two candidates offer.
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On energy, while the
war in Ukraine
has highlighted the dependence of European countries on Russian gas and oil, the two candidates agree on one point: to bet on nuclear power.
Electricity production in France is already 67% based on the atom.
But the plants are getting old.
Emmanuel Macron
therefore promises the construction of
six new
latest-generation reactors and is considering eight more.
For her part,
Marine Le Pen
promises 20 new reactors and the reopening of the Fessenheim plant closed in 2020 and whose dismantling has already begun.
On the other hand, on renewable energies, the two candidates are opposed.
Marine Le Pen indeed wants a moratorium on solar and wind power and even the “
gradual dismantling
” of wind turbines already installed.
Emmanuel Macron, on the contrary, wants a "
massive deployment
" of renewable energies, including 50 offshore wind farms by 2050.
►
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: Marine Le Pen in support of fishermen opposed to wind power
Finally to lower household bills, the candidate of the National Rally wants to lower taxes on fuel oil, gas, oil and electricity.
Emmanuel Macron is betting on the energy renovation of buildings.
Plant trees and preserve natural areas
The programs of the two candidates are for the rest less detailed.
To protect biodiversity, the outgoing president wants to clean up old landfills and develop a French recycling sector to reduce waste exports.
It also plans to plant 140 million trees.
Marine Le Pen proposes conditioning the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on the evolution of the population of control animals (bees, birds or bats).
She also hopes to encourage farmers to preserve hedgerows, wetlands and forests with a special bonus.
Localism and liberalism
The question of transport also divides the candidates.
Marine Le Pen refuses to ban petrol or diesel engines while Emmanuel Macron wants to develop a 100% French electric car industry and set up leasing on electric vehicles to facilitate access to carbon-free cars.
In the end, both agree that we must respect the
Paris agreement,
which plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. But their vision differs radically.
Marine Le Pen rejects the scientific consensus (by dismissing renewable energies in particular) and the European
Green Deal
(set of reforms in favor of the environment), too restrictive according to her and which represents for the candidate an "
ecology misguided by climate terrorism which endangers the planet, national independence and even more, the standard of living of the French
”.
To achieve the climate objectives, it rather wishes to review the trajectory of France each year and bases its policy on “
localism
”: producing French and consuming French in a short circuit.
Without however modifying the intensive agricultural model pointed out by the defenders of the environment.
Embarrassment and regret of environmental activists
Its program marks “
climate regression
” for the Climate Action Network, which brings together several NGOs and national associations.
"
Rather than helping the French get out of expensive and polluting fossil fuels, it favors the maintenance of these energies
" according to Neil Makaroff, Europe manager at RAC.
However, criticism is also directed towards Emmanuel Macron.
"
The policy that I will pursue in the next five years will be ecological or it will not be
", declared this Saturday the candidate of LREM.
But after a first five-year term of speeches never followed by actions, broken promises and reversals (on nuclear power or pesticides for example), "
it's hard to trust him
" explains Neil Makaroff, who sees in his balance sheet “
climatic stagnation
”.
For the RAC, the program of the outgoing president is “
vague, incomplete, imprecise
” but “
it does not exclude international cooperation
”.
And if Emmanuel Macron, in search of voters, affirms that he will be inspired by the programs of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Yannick Jadot who were the most complete on the environment.
He now dares to speak of sobriety and announces a Prime Minister "
directly in charge of ecological planning
", a concept borrowed from Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
►
To read also
: in Marseille, Macron is betting on ecological planning
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French politics
Presidential France 2022
Marine Le Pen
Emmanuel Macron
Environment