In front of the actors of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR) and accompanied by five ministers, Élisabeth Borne revealed, this Tuesday, September 19, the distribution of the additional 10 billion euros that the government intends to commit to the ecological transition. This roadmap must make it possible to achieve France’s objectives in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It is even crucial for “protect the purchasing power of the French”, claims the Prime Minister.
“Some fear that the ecological transition will be synonymous with a drop in purchasing power. On the contrary, it is the absence of transition that would lead to it, because we would be eternally subject to shocks on prices and therefore on purchasing power. said Élisabeth Borne.
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“Protecting purchasing power therefore involves phasing out fossil fuels, renovating housing and relocating. This involves controlling electricity costs (…). In a word, this involves ecological planning,” asserted the tenant of Matignon, facing representatives of employers’ organizations, trade unions, consular chambers, environmental associations and the fight against poverty.
At the end of this meeting, Noam Leandri, president of the Alerte collective which brings together 34 associations fighting against poverty, stressed that ” THE The poorest households (…) are those which pollute the least, but which are the most impacted by pollution” and that “are the least equipped to face this transition”. He calls for measures “much more concrete” in their favor.
The representatives of the communities, for their part, requested “adapted means” to this transition, reported for the Association of Rural Mayors, Yvan Lubraneskin, while for the U2P (Union of Local Businesses), Michel Picon called for ” time ” to adapt.
10 billion distributed between all sectors
Of this additional 10 billion euros, 7 billion euros will be spent in 2024. According to think tank I4CE, the 2023 budget included around 28 billion euros of spending on ecological planning.
In detail, the largest envelope will be intended for agriculture and biodiversity with 2.3 billion euros dedicated, including 500 million for the water plan. The construction sector will benefit from an equivalent sum (2.2 billion euros), the majority of which (1.6 billion) devoted to energy renovation of housing and the rest that of state buildings.
The energy and industry sectors will each benefit from 1.8 billion euros, of which 700 million in support of hydrogentransport of 1.6 billion intended mainly for railway, river and maritime infrastructures and, finally, communities of 800 million euros.
Purchasing power comes to the heart of the debates
Before this meeting with the CNR, Élisabeth Borne presented this roadmap this Monday in Matignon to the leaders of the political parties – only France Insoumise did not respond. The question of the connection between ecology and purchasing power came up during the meeting, with several party leaders, for example, calling for “very strong regulation” of the price of electricity, according to Matignon.
“A war against the climate requires a war economy and we are very, very far from it”, declared the boss of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure. The leader of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel had arrived “without illusions”especially wanting to “lower the bill” electricity and gas. For the right, Éric Ciotti drew a “mixed assessment” of this planning, without “very clear perspective on the means to achieve this and finance it”. He calls for a conference “on energy prices” and a reduction in taxes on gas and electricity rather than selling at a loss, “placebo on a wooden leg” to his eyes.
According to Matignon, ” all “ the parties present at Monday’s meeting “agree that the success of this transition relies in particular on carbon-free electricity and that it must be at a competitive price”, with “a call from a large number of participants for very strong regulation” of its price.
With these two meetings, the government has in any case opened a ” sequence ” of around ten days on the subject of ecological planning. A speech from Emmanuel Macron on this subject is expected next Monday, before the presentation, on September 27 in the Council of Ministers, of the draft budget for 2024.
(With AFP)
