“It’s going in the right direction” but “we need to redouble our efforts and accelerate action”, argues the Climate Action Network

While the government announced, Wednesday June 26, that greenhouse gas emissions are down 5.3% in France in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023, Anne Bringault, director of programs of the Climate Action Network, believes that “It’s going in the right direction” but that he “We must redouble our efforts and accelerate action”because in the reasons for this decline, “there are actions linked to what the government does”but also reasons “conjunctural”notably the “particularly mild month of February”.

For the head of the association, the announcement from the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, “is good news”but “we were lucky because we had particularly mild weather, especially in February. And so we used less heating. Less heating means less fuel oil for oil boilers or less gas fossil fuel for heating, and it also means less electricity to use and produce. So, we have used less coal or gas power plants which we use precisely when there are cold peaks.

However, if we observe a drop of 3% in the transport sector, which is the sector that emits the most greenhouse gases in France, according to Anne Bringault, it is necessary “accelerate” in this area, in particular “the provision of small electric vehicles”, “make train prices affordable, offer other modes of transport, encourage carpooling” : “A whole set of mobility solutions which for the moment are not yet completely there.”