It is quite rare for companies to encourage their customers to buy less of the products they sell. However, the leaders of the three French energy companies, TotalEnergies, EDF and Engie have just launched a stirring appeal, published on June 26 in Sunday newspaper, to enjoin the French to reduce their consumption of oil, electricity and gas.
Patrick Pouyanné, Jean-Bernard Lévy and Catherine MacGregor alert public opinion to the major disruptions that are weakening the French energy system. The tensions linked to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as well as the reduction of nuclear and hydraulic energy production capacities are putting a strain on our supply, they underline, before calling for an effort “immediate, collective and massive” from the French.
The strength and relevance of this appeal only underline the absence of public authorities’ discourse on the subject of sobriety. The energy crisis began in the summer of 2021, with a sharp rise in prices, which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought to its climax for four months. Apart from a few isolated declarations, the government is slow to launch a major campaign to encourage the French to truly change their behavior in terms of energy. “The price of energy threatens our cohesion”, proclaim the leaders in the gallery. A sentence which would undoubtedly have even more repercussions if it were pronounced and assumed at the top of the State.
Surprising efficiency
At the end of February, Emmanuel Macron could have seized the opportunity of presenting his plan on the transformation of the electricity mix to raise awareness among the French about their consumption. The introduction of the energy shield or the 18-cent drop in the price of gasoline could also have been key moments to launch a national mobilization which is slow to take shape. While the German government does not hesitate to trigger an alert threshold on the country’s gas supply, calling on its citizens to « effort national »France is satisfied with a diffuse and inaudible discourse.
Two events may explain the government’s caution. First, the movement of “yellow vests”, which had erupted on a clumsy tax injunction to participate in the energy transition. In addition, the French are barely emerging from two years of constraints linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is undoubtedly necessary to demonstrate the greatest pedagogy to convince them to give up part of their energy comfort.
This consists first of all in remembering that sobriety, under a prosaic exterior, can turn out to be surprisingly effective. The examples of the oil crisis of 1973 or the nuclear accident of Fukushima show that, when the efforts are massive and coordinated, the energy savings are substantial. In the Japanese case, electricity consumption was able to drop by 15% thanks to simple gestures. The rush on air conditioners during the last heat wave shows that there is still a lot of progress to be made when it comes to energy citizenship.
We must also insist on the virtues of savings that provide answers to the three challenges we face: purchasing power, ecological transition and energy independence. Finally, the government must make it clear that sobriety is a lesser constraint than rationing. However, if the first is not accepted, it is the second which will end up imposing itself.
Overconsumption: the impasse, a five-part series
- Climate emergency: the challenge of sobriety
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions comes up against the maintenance of our lifestyles
The difficult decoupling between economic activity and greenhouse gas emissions
“Faced with the climate emergency, the camp of adaptation and that of rupture”
The absolute need to rethink our modes of transport
The “false debate” of the renewal of the vehicle fleet
Tourism sobriety, “cultural combat” and rail
The “flygskam”, the shame of flying, shakes up aircraft manufacturers
Why our food system is unsustainable for the planet
The many virtues of self-production
The big gap of the French in front of their plate
Consuming… to the point of disgust
“Buying acts like a drug, well-being is then a lure”
In Créteil Soleil, in the largest Primark in France, temple of fast fashion
Sobriety: Towards a limitation of the use of digital?
Renovation, densification, hunting for empty housing… housing, a model to be deconstructed
In Auch, families try participatory housing in a former convent
When cities pool the use of public buildings