LES CLUBS DE RECHERCHE-ACTION : DE L’EXPERTISE À L’INNOVATION ECONOMIQUE POUR LE CLIMAT

How much should France invest in climate action ? Experts from diverse backgrounds have sought to answer this important and seemingly simple question. They agree that France needs to invest more to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. But they differ on the scale of public and private funding needs, which range from €20 to €100 billion a year. Is this a cause for concern? Not really, because the experts are not counting the same thing. These differences can be explained and should not be used as an excuse for inaction.

How does the government plan to finance the increase in its public spending on climate action? Further to the government’s reactions to the Pisani-Ferry report, which proposes using all options, including debt and tax increases, let us make an assumption: what if the government were to rely solely on budget saving options? I4CE’s Damien Demailly reviews the savings options available to the government. Clearly, they are all difficult to implement and some may prove counterproductive. They are nevertheless on the government’s agenda and are worth explaining and discussing, as are all options to finance the transition.

Let’s cut to the chase. Emmanuel Macron was wrong to drop a rhetorical bomb on Thursday, 11 May, when he called for a “regulatory pause” in environmental legislation. And that was a real shame because shortly after doing so, he said something important that went unnoticed by the analysts: Europe and France risk “being the best performers in terms of regulation, and the worst performers in terms of financing”.