At Cop26, Emmanuel Macron weighed down by his green balls – The HuffPost

POOL New via Reuters

POLICY – After Italy, direction Scotland for Emmanuel Macron this Monday, November 1. The Head of State is taking part in the Cop26 for the climate in Glasgow, while the situation is more alarming than ever. From this summer after the very disturbing report of the IPCC, the Head of State, who had been sacred “Champion of the Earth and the Climate” by the UN in 2018, invited its international counterparts to seize this conference to reverse the trend.

“The time for indignation is behind us”, then declared the President of the Republic, calling on the international community to seal “an agreement equal to the urgency”. “France will remain on the side of those who act”, he added, citing the Paris agreement, adopted under François Hollande, “Carbon neutrality at European level”, promised by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen for 2050 and the climate law which has not finally taken over very few commitments of the eponymous Convention.

Ahead of this Scottish edition, his entourage sang the same voluntary refrain, stressing that he will meet there officials “with whom he has an agenda of solutions” and “practical proposals to help achieve our ecological transition objectives” .

The action of the champion of the Earth condemned in justice

At the Élysée, we insist on the many discussions and negotiations that will have to be carried out, as well as the need to be “demanding” towards major CO2 emitters, such as China, India, Indonesia, Australia or Japan. Commitments which, seen from France, are struggling to convince, as Emmanuel Macron’s ecological record is contrasted.

“A few days before the opening of the Cop26, we learned that the last budget of the Macron five-year term includes at least 25 billion euros of public spending harmful to the climate and the environment”, creaked recently Clément Sénéchal, spokesperson for Greenpeace France.

In fact, this is not the first time that specialists in the question point to a discrepancy between the grandiloquent declarations of the Head of State and the actions. Among the examples often cited, the non-respect of the commitments made during the Paris Agreements. Seized by NGOs supported by a petition of more than 2.3 million citizens, the administrative court for example condemned in February the state for climate inaction. And just a few days ago, the administrative justice ordered the state to repair the damage caused by its inaction.

And that’s not all. In July, the Council of State gave nine months to the executive to “take additional measures” to achieve the objective of reducing greenhouse gases by 40% by 2030. A month later, the same body sentenced the state to a fine of 10 million euros for not having sufficiently strengthened its air pollution control system.

Stinging setbacks that resonate with the criticisms voiced by citizens of the Climate Convention, who had crushed the “Climate resilience” bill, judged to be far below the stakes.

Macron relies on nuclear power to decarbonize French energy

So many balls that could hamper the action of the Head of State at the Cop26. “France has a historic responsibility: it was under her presidency, during Cop21, that the Paris Agreement was concluded. It is theoretically its guarantor. Unfortunately, the country’s lack of exemplarity under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron jeopardizes this fundamental role and the diplomatic dynamic with him ”, warns Greenpeace, who believes that “France is expected at the turn” of this edition.

Emmanuel Macron is not unaware of these difficulties. During the presentation of his France 2030 plan in early October, he stressed the need to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35%” between what was measured in 2015 and 2035.

To achieve this, he announced a series of investments, including nuclear, an energy on which He counts to lower France’s CO2 emissions, to the chagrin of environmentalists who see it as a threat to the environment. And this is not the RTE report, deeming “relevant” to develop new nuclear reactors to reconcile carbon imperatives and economic performance, which should make him change his mind.

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