It’s Elisabeth Borne’s turn to dive into the media storm unleashed by PSG coach Christophe Galtier and player Kylian Mbappé on the modes of transport used by the club. The Prime Minister called on Ligue 1 footballers on Tuesday to “become fully aware” of the climate crisis.
“I think it is important that they realize what world we are in, that they realize that there is a climate crisis which is no longer a hypothesis for tomorrow but which is a reality now, that we has all lived with the heat wave, the drought and the fires this summer”, she declared on the sidelines of the inauguration of a police station in Paris. “I call on them to be aware of this situation,” she added.
PSG coach Christophe Galtier and star Kylian Mbappé sparked controversy on Monday during the press conference for the Champions League match against Juventus Turin on Tuesday. Asked about the club’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions during its travels and in particular about the possibility of using the train rather than the plane, the Parisian coach replied that travel “by sand yacht” was possible. study, provoking a giggle from Kylian Mbappé, present at his side.
The sequence immediately went viral, sparking outraged reactions. Before the Prime Minister, many politicians castigated the casualness of the coach and the PSG striker on climate change, a subject that has become ultra-sensitive after a summer of 2022 marked by three heat waves. “Mr. Galtier, you have accustomed us to more relevant and responsible answers – are we talking about it? “, reacted on Twitter the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
“I really invite the PSG to take up this subject very seriously, because the French would not understand that some consider themselves above global warming”, lashed out the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Especially since the club had taken the trouble to indicate a little earlier on Monday that it was studying “all the possibilities of travel to the club’s away matches (about 25 per season)”. Discussions are taking place with the SNCF, but several challenges relating to “security, respect for public order, logistical issues and the environment” still arise.