Climate: the Council of State puts the French government under pressure again
Cars on the ring road surrounding Paris in 2020 (Illustration image). © THOMAS COEX / AFP
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The Council of State demanded this Wednesday, May 10, from the government new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within a year, in the case of the municipality of Grande-Synthe.
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The Council of State today orders the government to take new measures by June 30, 2024, and to transmit as of December 31 a progress report detailing these measures and their effectiveness ", says the high administrative court, thus following the conclusions of the public rapporteur. However, it did not impose a financial penalty on the government.
⚖️ Greenhouse gas emissions: the Government must take new measures and send an initial assessment at the end of the year.
➡️ Read the decision:
https://t.co/gt3eAZEg1i pic.twitter.com/Oyc2mhTC71
— Council of State (@Conseil_Etat) May 10, 2023
In 2019, the municipality of Grande-Synthe (North) had seized the Council of State for "climate inaction", considering that its city, located on the coast and neighboring Dunkirk, was threatened with submersion. The highest administrative court had ruled in his favour in July 2021, leaving nine months for the France to "take all necessary measures" to bend "the curve of greenhouse gas emissions" to be in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement (-40% by 2030 compared to 1990).
Measures for the moment insufficient
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The Council of State considers that, while additional measures have been taken and reflect the government's willingness to implement the decision, there is still no sufficiently credible guarantee that the greenhouse gas emission reduction trajectory can be effectively respected. " he said in a statement. The decision thus instructs "the Prime Minister to take all necessary additional measures to ensure the consistency of the pace of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions" with the reduction trajectory that the country has set itself.
The Council of State also notes that the European Union has approved a new target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by -55% in 2030 compared to 1990 levels, which will result in a more ambitious target for France. A revision which, if it does not apply directly to the case under consideration, "cannot be ignored".
► Read also: What cost for the adaptation of the France to climate change?
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The measures taken do not show a sufficiently marked leap to convince of the achievement of the 2030 objectives" but "the effort nevertheless seems significant to us", had noted the public rapporteur while presenting his conclusions on April 12, in a case where the city of Paris is also among the applicants alongside NGOs (Notre affaire à tous, Greenpeace, Oxfam).
The decision thus takes up Wednesday the measures put forward by the government in transport, construction or industry: ban on the installation of oil or coal boilers, development of renewable and nuclear energies, promotion of electric vehicles, etc. But "there remain persistent uncertainties" about the credibility of government measures to achieve "a rate of emission reductions [...] consistent with the goals" for 2030, the decision stresses.
A separate case was brought before the Paris Administrative Court in 2019 by four NGOs united under the banner "The Case of the Century". In February 2021, the court ruled in their favour, declaring the State "responsible" for breaches of its commitments and the resulting "ecological damage". Then, in October of the same year, the court ordered that this excess be compensated by "December 31, 2022, at the latest", paving the way for a future revival of this case by NGOs.
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(
With AFP)
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