The minister responsible for industry, Roland Lescure, had warned the guests. The exercise would not “neither a confessional nor a people’s court”. In the audience, where we could see Patrick Pouyanné, head of TotalEnergies, among players in construction, the sugar industry or chemicals, no one seemed really worried. Invited, Tuesday, November 8, at the Elysée, the representatives of the fifty most polluting sites in France, weighing alone 10% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, were not on enemy territory.
Just back from Sharm El-Sheikh, in Egypt, where COP27 is being held, Emmanuel Macron reassured them from the start. There is no question of sacrificing industry on the altar of ecology. The Head of State holds the line that has not ceased to be his since 2017, that of a pro-business president. “I would still be paradoxical to come here to explain to you that the solution for the climate would be to do the opposite of what we have done in economic or industrial matters in recent years. I believe in consistency, you just have to keep it. explained Mr. Macron. “There is a French model of success. We have a future if we know how to hold together three major objectives: the climate, industrialization and sovereignty”he insisted.
To achieve carbon neutrality in France by 2050, as it has promised, the tenant of the Elysée is counting on the cooperation of major players in the economy. Without law or constraint but thanks to a substantial financial incentive. Emmanuel Macron offers a simple contract: public money against environmental commitments. An envelope of 5 billion euros is already planned as part of the France 2030 plan to reward efforts to decarbonize industrial sites.
“A form of planning”
Granted by the end of the year, these 5 billion must reduce CO emissions2 10 million tonnes in just under ten years (out of a total of just over 45 million tonnes). The solutions are already sketched out. The Elysée, which notably believes in hydrogen, in the capture of CO2 and biomass, invited start-ups representing these technologies. One way to prove that climate change does not condemn industry but can, on the contrary, stimulate research and innovation to revive it. “We are here facing 20% of the problem since industry is 20% of the greenhouse gases, but you all also represent almost 100% of the solutions”summarized Roland Lescure.
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