It’s a first. Elisabeth Borne, the new Prime Minister, will therefore also be in charge of ecological planning, in accordance with the announcement made by Emmanuel Macron in the between-two-towers in Marseille. To what might this planning system look like? A whole new organization is emerging.
No more ecological action concentrated in a single ministry. What is emerging is a three-way piloting. At the controls, Elisabeth Borne at Matignon, who should be surrounded by two co-pilots. On the one hand, a Minister of Energy Planning for sobriety, renewable and nuclear issues. And on the other hand, a Minister for the Transition in the territories, who would more particularly follow transport, thermal renovation, the quality of water and air, and food.
This new organization should finally ensure that ecological action is more transversal and that it bears less of the cost of competition between several ministries. Because reducing greenhouse gas emissions often requires bringing together several sectors. For example: deploying the electric vehicle sector, asking the question of employment with heat engine manufacturers, also asking the question of aid for households who have to change cars, as well as that of the deployment of charging stations, of the battery sector… It is difficult to design a relevant transition policy without coordinating the work of several ministries. Especially since the first year of the five-year term will be that of the vote (by July 1, 2023) of a new energy-climate programming law, with carbon emission reduction targets for 2030, and therefore measures energy policy, agriculture, renovation of housing or adaptation of transport. So many files which require interministerial management and which should therefore in the future pass through Matignon.
Under what conditions can this planning really work? According to Marine Braud, author at Terra Nova, who worked with Elisabeth Borne, the choice of the new Prime Minister is already encouraging because she is convinced of the climate emergency, and knows very well the workings of the State.
But, according to this consultant, it would need a dedicated team. For example, a secretariat for ecological planning, to monitor policies in real time, to check that we are not leaving via fixed paths and, if necessary, to call interministerial meetings. Success will also depend on the personality of the two ministers who will accompany Elisabeth Borne in this ecological planning.