Energy sobriety plan: a good start but needs to do better, for NGOs
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented her government's energy sobriety plan on Thursday, October 6, 2022, in Paris, France.
AFP - EMMANUEL DUNAND
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
The government presented three hours during its sobriety plan Thursday, October 6.
Objective: reduce France's energy consumption by 10% by 2024 to deal with the energy crisis and continue efforts thereafter to meet France's climate commitments.
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The government hammers it, it sounds the "
general mobilization
".
Administration, shops, companies, sports or cultural organizations and of course individuals: everyone is called upon to contribute to implementing
energy sobriety
.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented her government's action plan.
Just a few months ago, few of us were familiar with this concept.
But with the war, with the urgency of the energy transition, then the call from the President of the Republic, energy sobriety was imposed.
Energy sobriety does not mean producing less and opting for reduction, it means avoiding unnecessary consumption, and not all consuming at the same time.
These are sometimes harmless gestures, but which, on a large scale, have a considerable impact.
Gestures that reduce our bills, gestures that reduce our footprint on the climate.
Because sobriety is a collective affair.
We play on the whole range of energy savings, whether it's heating, lighting or digital.
Elisabeth Borne
For individuals, the executive plans to encourage carpooling and soft mobility.
No binding measures, on the contrary: the government is counting on the goodwill of the French.
Five gestures
But you still have to know how to be sober, recognizes Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition.
“
It is for these reasons that we wanted to carry out a communication campaign.
This campaign is called "Every gesture counts"
.
► See also: Energy savings, a gateway to sobriety?
Lowering, switching off and shifting certain consumption outside peak hours will be the key words broken down into five gestures.
«
Régler son chauffage à 19 degrés maximum, régler son chauffe-eau à 55 degrés et rester moins longtemps sous la douche, éteindre tous ses appareils lorsqu'ils ne sont pas utilisés, décaler l'utilisation de ces appareils électroniques en dehors des périodes de point.
»
Several energy suppliers will offer a
“sobriety bonus
” system to reward good students.
Finally, Olivier Klein, Minister Delegate for Housing, proposes to reduce the period of collective heating of buildings.
► Also to listen: Energy sobriety and teleworking, instructions for use
“
Obviously it's a guess depending on how the weather will be, but one month of reduced heating is about 12% energy savings.
Funding is planned to accompany the development of housing: a boost will be granted for the installation of programmable thermostats.
MaPrimeRenov' aid will increase next year to reach 2.5 billion euros.
Opposition reviews
The first reactions were heard from the opposition side.
The LFI deputies criticized the sobriety plan presented by the government, which " makes the French
feel guilty
", and propose ten emergency measures to get through the winter, including the blocking of prices and superprofits.
“
We question this government's lack of anticipation and planning.
The energy crisis began before the war in Ukraine
, ”pointed out the boss of the group Mathilde Panot at a press conference.
🔴⚡️ Our group presents today a fair #sobriety plan with 10 great measures so that the effort does not always weigh on the same.
⤵️ pic.twitter.com/pxF9wyc6og
— Parliamentary group La France insoumise - NUPES (@FiAssemblee) October 6, 2022
The Europe Ecology-The Greens party also presented alternative measures for a “
fair sobriety plan
”.
[PRESS RELEASE] ⤵️
Reading this government's sobriety plan, it seems to have not yet taken the measure of the crisis we will have to face this winter 🤔
Environmentalists will defend their proposals in Parliament and at the local level! https://t .co/i1UFvzPbmT
— EELV (@EELV) October 6, 2022
Jordan Bardella of the National Rally voiced his criticism.
The government is managing the shortage and has contributed to the third-worldization of our country.
France was a great power, with a French asset called nuclear power, which allowed it to have significant competitiveness...
Jordan Bardella
The Republicans Party also attacked the government.
Rather than calling for everyone's responsibility, the government should recognize its own responsibilities.
#Sobriety
While we produce electricity at €50/MWh, our companies pay €600/MWh.
What is the government waiting for to take action?
pic.twitter.com/XuUtIL1YUP
– Republicans (@lesRepublicains) October 6, 2022
NGOs regret a lack of ambition
Finally, for NGOs, the measures announced by the government are welcome, but they do not go far enough.
From public services to businesses, via sport, housing and transport, the government's sobriety plan is welcomed by Zélie Victor, energy transition manager at the Action Climat network, which brings together around thirty NGOs, welcomes the sobriety plan announced by the government.
“
It is a very good signal that the government has taken some measure of the energy and climate emergency, so we are happy that there is an ambitious objective of reducing consumption by less than 10%.
»
But she regrets that the measures are not binding and that no follow-up is planned to verify the real efforts of companies in particular.
"
It's not just about getting through the winter, it's also about getting through the next winters and reaching our climate goals for 2050. So what we're waiting for now is real monitoring of what is announced and then medium-long-term structural measures so that sobriety becomes a societal choice and a real change in software
.
»
This must go through investments to develop infrastructure for the train, bicycle, public transport.
To help low-income households renovate their homes too.
Because she believes that we will have to go further: “
Just putting on a sweater will not be enough.
We will have to change our modes of transport, food, the way we also work sometimes.
There, we will really need a “social support” component.
»
Going further is essentially what the NGO Greenpeace is asking for in a Twitter thread devoted to the government plan.
OK to raise awareness about sobriety, especially if it helps lower household bills, but we won't solve either the energy crisis or the climate crisis only with small gestures
The government is able to act but nothing is moving https:/ /t.co/M4OuumcBpk
— Greenpeace France (@greenpeacefr) October 6, 2022
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Energies
Elisabeth Borne
Climate change
Environment