Two NGOs call on the State to make public aid conditional on a real reduction in CO2 emissions

Climate Action Network and France Nature Environnement have published the second edition of their annual report on the decarbonization of our industry, highlighting the 50 highest-emitting sites in France.

On Tuesday, July 16, the Climate Action Network and France Nature Environnement are calling on the State to make public aid granted to French industry conditional on a real reduction in CO2 emissions. While French industry as a whole is responsible for 17.5% of national emissions, the 50 most polluting industrial sites in France alone are responsible for 7.3% of national greenhouse gas emissions in 2023.

The environmental impact of these 50 sites is not limited to the climate alone, the authors of the report emphasize. They are also responsible for air, water and soil pollution that can have serious consequences for biodiversity and human health. ArcelorMittal, the leader in steel in France, is the leading industrial emitter of greenhouse gases in France, the report emphasizes. Its two sites in Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk represent 16% of the emissions of French industry. Behind them are Naphtachimie in Bouches-du-Rhône, Total Energies in Gonfreville (Seine-Maritime), and the Compagnie Pétrochimique de Berre (Bouches-du-Rhône).

In 2023, industries reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 7.8% compared to 2022. And the 50 sites identified by the two NGOs reduced their emissions by 11% in one year. Good news, according to the Climate Action Network. But half of this reduction is based on the drop in the production of products such as cement and steel. “Thus, the industry still has to prove that its decarbonization is underway and sustainable”write the NGOs. But some of the 50 sites emitted more in 2023 than in 2022, such as Saint-Gobain, Lafarge and Yara France, a manufacturer of chemical fertilizers.

The Climate Action Network and France Nature Environnement point out that these industrialists have signed contracts with the State to receive aid and to be able to invest in their decarbonization. The current government has provided an envelope of 10 billion euros until 2027. But “This public support must not be free money”warn the two NGOs. They denounce in particular the bet made by companies on carbon capture at the factory exit. More than a third of industrialists are banking on this technology, which is nevertheless very expensive and not yet proven. Among them, Aluminium Dunkerque, the chemists of Yara France in Le Havre and Naphtachimie in Bouches-du-Rhône. The NGOs call on the State to prioritize public aid towards more efficient and less expensive solutions.

The NGO report particularly singles out ArcelorMittal. According to them, the industrialist is committing a series of environmental offences: air, soil and water pollution. “The actions of the industrialist have consequences for the environment and the health of employees and residents near the factory. However, it remains a major beneficiary of public and private funding.” Thus, in January 2024, the government confirmed state aid of an exceptional amount of 850 million euros intended for the decarbonization of the Dunkirk site. But the steel giant regularly exceeds the thresholds for the discharge of fine particles in Dunkirk and Fos-sur-Mer.

The Climate Action Network and France Nature Environnement therefore stress the need to make the 850 million envelope conditional on a commitment from the steelmaker to actually transform the Dunkirk site to establish the entire green steel production chain there. “The upcoming effort to meet the climate objectives for 2030 and 2050 will require a transformation of this sector worthy of an industrial revolution.the report concludes. In the short term, French industry will have to reduce its annual emissions by 37 million tonnes of CO2, compared to the 2019 level.”