The government knows that it is expected, so it has put the small dishes in the big ones: it is with great fanfare that the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, will present, Thursday, October 6, in the afternoon, her energy conservation plan.
This great gathering organized at the Parc des expositions in Paris, for more than three hours, will bring together no less than eight ministers and will be concluded with a speech by the head of government, Élisabeth Borne, in front of dozens of guests.
The objective is ambitious: to reduce France's energy consumption by 10% in two years.
Although the plan was imposed on the government because of the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on the energy market, it also aims to put in place permanent measures to reduce French gas emissions in the long term. greenhouse effects.
This plan "will make it possible to avoid restrictive measures" during the coming winter, but "in the longer term, energy sobriety will be fundamental to achieving our climate objectives", explained a few weeks ago Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who organized working groups over the last three months with the various sectors concerned.
President @EmmanuelMacron has announced an energy #sobriety plan.
What is that ?
👇 pic.twitter.com/hugInoaJYQ
— Agnes Pannier-Runacher 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@AgnesRunacher) July 15, 2022
Thus, thematic meetings followed one another throughout the summer: "Exemplary State", "Companies and organization of work", "Establishments open to the public and large surfaces", "Housing", "Local authorities", "Digital and telecommunications", "Sports", "Transport" and "Industry".
Now is the time for homework.
The stakes are high for the government since the presentation of this sobriety plan will be a test of its understanding of the issues and its desire to encourage new behaviors.
Already, the first measures are known, revealed Wednesday by Le Parisien.
First, the administration wants to be "exemplary", which will include a cut in hot water in the toilets of the administration buildings, except in the showers.
Heating at 19°C, hot water cut off, carpooling
The government also wants to encourage telework to limit travel and reduce heating in buildings, with a maximum set at 19°C during the day, or even 18°C in the event of tension on the gas or electricity networks.
In the world of sport and local communities, one degree less in swimming pools will be requested and the heating lowered in equipment, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Ministry of the Public Service will also announce a 15% increase in teleworking compensation for agents, which would go from 2.50 euros to 2.88 euros per day.
The government wants companies to do the same.
>> To read: Energy sobriety: how is it going in France and elsewhere in Europe?
On the private side, the government wants to encourage carpooling with the distribution of a bonus offered to each new subscriber to a carpooling platform, of 100 euros according to Le Parisien, an amount confirmed by the Ministry of Energy Transition.
But the Ministry of Transport said Wednesday evening that this amount of 100 euros was not yet fixed, and that it would only be part of a plan on carpooling which would be presented in the coming weeks.
In terms of lighting, one of the axes of the sobriety plan in companies, a decree should be published Thursday to generalize to the whole country the extinction of store lights between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., a ban which until now had exceptions depending on the size of the agglomerations.
>> To read: Swimming pools, skiing, industries… these sectors threatened by the increase in energy prices
"It is a good approach to plan to start the presentation of the plan with commitments from the State, communities and companies before asking individuals to make an effort. It is important for the message to get through", judges Anne Bringault, program coordinator at Réseau Action Climat, who was invited to speak during the presentation of the plan, Thursday afternoon, on the issue of sobriety.
"However, even if the government's measures act on the right levers, we remain on the incentive and the goodwill of the individuals, she regrets. And above all, no follow-up is planned to know if it there is an impact, check that the measures are working."
"The government has not yet taken the measure of the transformations to be carried out"
Faithful to its philosophy in terms of ecology consisting in empowering citizens, the executive has in fact refused to accept any obligation or prohibition.
Thus, in the transport sector, which accounts for 30% of France's greenhouse gas emissions, a lowering of the speed limit from 130 km/h to 110 km/h on motorways and from 110 km/h to 100 km/h on expressways was never on the table.
Such a measure would however save 20% of our fuel consumption on each trip, according to the négaWatt association.
Therefore, the question arises: without constraint, will the 10% reduction in our energy consumption be achieved?
“Without any system for monitoring commitments and if we simply appeal to the goodwill of each other, that may not be enough”, fears Anne Bringault, whose association, Réseau Action Climat, published its results on Wednesday. eight conditions "for an effective and fair sobriety plan".
The leftist oppositions also criticize this lack of obligations.
Socialist and environmentalist groups in the National Assembly both presented their own sobriety plans on Wednesday.
The Insoumis group must do the same on Thursday afternoon.
Their approach is similar and is perfectly summed up by Jérémie Crépel, the deputy national secretary of Europe Écologie-Les Verts: "For the government, the solution is individual responsibility, for us it is collective responsibility."
Tomorrow, the government presents its roadmap for sobriety.
We expect more than a turtleneck.
From the outset, 8 conditions are set for this sobriety plan to be (or not be) a success.
https://t.co/09aFD0Usj9
— Climate Action Network (@RACFrance) October 5, 2022
Ecologists propose in particular "to ban digital screens in public spaces and night lighting of stores", "reduce speed on the roads", "legally limit heating in businesses and public buildings to 19°C" , but also "prohibit by 2025 the use of gas in industry when it is easily replaceable by renewable technologies".
The Socialists for their part advocate a "social tariff for the minimum energy essential for a dignified life", and beyond that, "a progressive tariff penalizing waste".
But beyond the debate between incentive and obligation, it is the very notion of sobriety that raises questions.
"Sobriety is the hunt for waste, it is attention to heating, lighting, it is not asking companies to lower their production or their activity", affirmed in September the Minister of Health. Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
However, the government is committed to reducing France's energy consumption by 40% by 2050 in order to achieve carbon neutrality.
Will it achieve this without a drop in production?
Impossible, answers Anne Bringault.
"This shows that the government has not yet taken the measure of the transformations to be carried out, she believes. In fact, we will have to consume less overall: less meat, less textiles, fewer objects harmful consumption for the climate. Sobriety means producing less."
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