“If the State does not do what is necessary, the next time it is a penalty”, reacts Corinne Lepage after the new condemnation by the Council of State

“If the state does not do the right thing, the next time it’s a penalty” financial, reacts Wednesday, May 10 on franceinfo Corinne Lepage, lawyer for the town of Grande-Synthe (North). The Council of State is once again demanding that the government take “new measures by June 30, 2024” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in a decision released Wednesday. He had been seized on the subject in 2019 by the city of Grande-Synthe and associations.

The lawyer says “satisfied” of the decision: “The main thing is that the Council of State puts the sword in the loins, that the State knows that it cannot be satisfied with communicating, that it must act. The object is not not to punish the state but to act.” In detail, the Council of State is asking for additional measures with a review clause in December 2023 and a final clause in June 2024 to be in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement (-40% by 2030 compared to 1990).

For a new climate law

On the means of action, Corinne Lepage considers that there could be a “new climate law” by next year, “to reduce emissions on mobility, the renovation of buildings, agriculture or even energy”she says.

>> Climate: the government affirms that the objectives of France will be respected

In 2019, the municipality of Grande-Synthe seized the Council of State for “climate inaction”, believing that his city, located on the coast and close to Dunkirk, was threatened with submersion. The institution had agreed with him in July 2021, leaving France nine months to “take all necessary measures” in order to influence “the curve of greenhouse gas emissions”. The risk of submersion is still there, believes the lawyer.