Electricity prices, end of coal, cars… what to remember from Emmanuel Macron’s speech on ecological planning

A highly anticipated speech. After meeting this Monday, for the second time, the Ecological Planning Council created after his re-election, Emmanuel Macron outlined the broad outlines of “ecological planning”. A roadmap postponed many times, whose stated objective is to achieve a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Here is what to remember from the President of the Republic's announcements .

“This plan is part of a balance sheet,” the president first declared, defending his record in ecological matters, citing the fight against the artificialization of land, the strengthening of the policy of ecological sovereignty, the development of a clear strategy on air transport, the relaunch of small railway lines and night trains or even the relaunch of the rail network regeneration project.

On the reduction of CO2 emissions, “we have come halfway since the 1990s”, repeated Emmanuel Macron, after having made the same remarks on Sunday evening on TF1 and France 2. The objective of reaching 55% of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 compared to 1990 is “attainable”, according to the tenant of the Élysée, while emphasizing that it “requires going 2.5 times faster over the next few years” .

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This is the key word of the Head of State, after more than “fourteen months of work and consultations” particularly within the framework of the National Refoundation Councils (CNR). From the Élysée, Emmanuel Macron hammered home his commitment to “building a French-style ecology”, which according to him requires a response to a “triple challenge”: climate change, the collapse of biodiversity and what it called "the end of abundance and scarcity of resources."

This “French-style ecology” is based “on a few simple principles,” explained the head of state. It is notably “an ecology based on science”. “It is neither an ecology of denial nor of cure,” the president clarified. “It’s a sovereign ecology,” he also added, since decarbonization “will help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, energies that we do not produce.”

He had already announced it on Sunday evening on the set of TF1 and France 2. From the Élysée, Emmanuel Macron once again makes the exit from coal a “priority” by 2027 with the closure of the last two power stations in the country . The Head of State announced that, “under this mandate”, France would “completely move away from coal for the production of our electricity”. France will then be “ahead” of the 2030 date set by the IPCC, he welcomed.

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For a year, the government has had the “ambition to develop the metropolitan RERs”, recalled Emmanuel Macron. “It’s an industrial project which will represent a total of 10 billion euros,” he said. Since the start of discussions, 13 projects have been selected and will be funded by 700 million euros from state coffers, announced the Head of State. The first contracts should be signed with the regions in the fall, he said.

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Ecological planning must allow France and Europe to gain in “competitiveness”, insisted the President. To do this, he recalled the recently passed “Green Industry” law. This “key point” is fundamental to “stand up against China and the United States”, defended Emmanuel Macron.

At the heart of competitiveness, the President of the Republic insisted on “resuming control of electricity prices”. “We will be able to announce electricity prices in October which put us in a favorable and competitive situation at European level. We are going to regain control over electricity prices at the French and European level,” he insisted.

He had already outlined his ambition on Sunday evening during his television interview. Emmanuel Macron has promised that at least “one million electric cars” will be produced in France. To do this, the president is banking on the opening of “four large electric battery factories” from Dunkirk to Douai, making it possible to “increase investment” and above all reduce dependence on exporting countries.

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Supporter of “an accessible and fair ecology”, Emmanuel Macron gave details on the timetable for “social leasing” for an electric car. “From November, we will reveal the leasing system at 100 euros for electric vehicle models,” he announced, specifying that it would only concern “a few tens of thousands of models in 2024”.

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Regarding housing, the President of the Republic recalled his decision not to ban gas boilers as he had initially committed to doing. “We decided to be on an incentive policy,” he said. That is to say, investing in the development of the heat pump sector in France, with a tripling of heat pump production and the training of 30,000 installers. These objectives set by Emmanuel Macron must promote “an ecology which creates economic value”, he insisted.

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At the end of his speech, Emmanuel Macron called on “all political forces to build as much harmony as possible”. According to the president, “some people are sometimes too quick to condemn nuclear power.” “All the scientists tell us that there is no strategy that exists without nuclear power,” insisted the Head of State. He also vilified those who oppose “the carbon border tax”, asking them to “come to terms with his solution”.

For a year, the executive has launched a major plan for “decarbonization of the 50 most emitting industrial sites” which should be signed in October, recalled the Head of State. A first step, before an extension “to our small and medium-sized businesses”, he pledged.

This decarbonization involves green hydrogen, as Emmanuel Macron recalled. “To facilitate the exit from fossil fuels, we must massively develop hydrogen,” he declared, with attention paid to “natural hydrogen deposits”. The government recently signed a decree allocating 4 billion euros to the sector.

On the agricultural aspect, Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of glyphosate. The head of state affirmed that France was going to “reduce by 30%” its dependence on this controversial herbicide, after the European Commission proposed renewing its authorization in the EU for ten years.