On May 7th 2017, Emmanuel Macron becomes the latest president of France. What is he planing on doing to protect the environment? We took a closer look at the ecological program introduced by the victorious candidate from the newly founded party "En Marche".

Leaving fossil fuels behind

The first objective of President Macron's new ecological program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking France out of fossil fuels. To this end, it has undertaken to close the remaining coal-fired power plants within 5 years, ban shale gas exploration and increase the carbon tax to €100/tCO2 by 2030.

Promote renewable energy further

Emmanuel Macron also stated that the State will finance the development of renewable energies, that it will simplify the procedures for deploying renewable energies, and that research and development efforts will be concentrated in order to reduce the country's dependence on nuclear energy, with the objective of 50% of nuclear energy by 2025.

Circular economy and recycling new business models

The new President wants to halve household waste by 2025 by combating the programmed obsolescence of household appliances, as well as facilitating sorting and modernising sorting centres. It also aims to extend the bonus-malus system in order to promote sustainable products and to penalize products that are harmful to the environment.

Make environmental health a priority

Another objective of Emmanuel Macron's ecological program is to raise awareness among French people about environmental protection through mobilization campaigns. On the other hand, diesel taxation will be aligned with petrol taxation and European anti-pollution standards will be strengthened. Finally, President Macron wishes to draw up an agenda of solutions for healthy food through more efficient agriculture, including the gradual elimination of pesticides and other endocrine disrupters.

Support France in its ecological transition

Supporting the whole country in its changes will be a priority. The new President aims to provide funds to the regions in return for, for example, job creation or reducing their environmental footprint. Several plans for renovation (public buildings, modest housing), investment (payment for environmental services for SMEs and farmers) and transformation (modernisation of farms) are also mentioned in its ecological programme.

Protecting our planet

Emmanuel Macron wants to defend biodiversity on a global scale by mobilizing heads of state and companies to create awareness, and in particular to hold the United States to account. The implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement will also be a priority at the international level. President Macron also said he wanted to impose trade sanctions at European level against countries that do not comply with the environmental clauses of trade agreements concluded with the European Union.

A surprise in the Macron government: the ecologist Nicolas Hulot

Nicolas Hulot, who had refused all the offers of the previous Presidents, was appointed Minister for Ecological and Solidarity Transition in the government of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Often accused during his campaign of neglecting ecology, Emmanuel Macron seems to want to keep his promise of renewal with the arrival of the ecologist and former Ushuaia leader in government. This shows his willingness to give an important place to the environment during his five-year term.