“We are being presented with unattainable objectives,” denounces the Association of Mayors of France

Local authorities will have to invest significantly in the climate in order to achieve the carbon neutrality objectives set by France by 2030.

Communities will have to “more than double” each year, by 2030, their investments in favor of the climate in the hope of reaching the carbon neutrality objectives set by France, according to a study by the Institute of Economics for Climate (I4CE) and La Banque Postale published on Friday, September 13. “We are being presented with unattainable objectives”denounced on franceinfo the vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) and mayor of Issoudun, in Indre, André Laignel.

“We didn’t wait, we have already invested a lot”estimated the man who is also head of the Local Finance Committee (CFL). If in 2023, local government investments in favor of the climate reached nearly 10 billion euros, these remain, according to the authors of the study, well below the challenges of ecological planning. The redirection of investments in favor of the ecological transition has “of course already been implemented”he defended. “For 20 or 30 years years, we did not wait for obligations and fashions to act”he stressed.

“We have taken action on water and sanitation, we have taken action on green spaces, we have taken action on heating…”

André Laignel, Vice-President of the AMF

on franceinfo

To take action, communities must mobilize their own resources through taxation, argues the I4CE. “We have almost no fiscal leverage left”denounced André Laignel. The elimination of taxes at the local level, such as the housing tax on primary residences, deprives communities of a “tax lever”. “We are being financially suffocated and when we modernise our territories, we are accused of spending too much”he added. “We are really in the absurd”summarized André Laignel.