“The climate issue should irrigate all debates”, estimates Thursday February 17 on franceinfo the director general of Oxfam France, Cécile Duflot, who organizes on March 13 a debate between candidates for the presidential election, for lack of having been able to convince a media to organize it. Oxfam is one of over 100 organizations to have signed a column in The world to call for putting environmental issues back at the heart of the campaign.
franceinfo: You wanted to do a debate show on the climate between the candidates for the presidential election: what did you get?
Cecile Duflot: We especially wanted us to talk about the climate issue in this campaign. This is an issue that should irrigate all debates. It is not a separate subject. We cannot talk about the economy today without talking about the impacts and the need to transform the economy to respond to the climate challenge. We cannot talk about migrations, we cannot talk about any subject without irrigating them with this vision and the questions it raises. This is what we tried to send as a message to the channels that traditionally organize debates, and they replied that it was not a priority. We saw it elsewhere in the debates and interviews organized, these are questions at the end of the program, it was not at the center of the debates of the primaries, with the exception of that of the ecologists. Something else more important: “the case of the century” obtained the condemnation of the State [pour inaction climatique]with an appointment on December 31, 2022. Whoever is elected on April 24, he will be subject to this condemnation and we need to know what he will want to do and that is what we will ask the March 13.
Do you make these criticisms to all the media?
We did this analysis with the Kantar Institute, which analyzed media noise in the countryside. The climate is 2.7% of the editorial volume on 120 media of different origins. It is not about this or that media, but overall, at franceinfo included, the media noise around this question is very low. It is very low because the questions are often seldom asked, and because they are placed in a somewhat separate theme.
“In 2022, if we do not put this question of the transformation of the economy under the prism of the climate, we are missing out on the story.”
Cécile Duflot, Director General of Oxfam Franceat franceinfo
We show Oxfam how closely the issue of inequality and the issue of the climate crisis are linked. Those who, in proportion to their income, pay less carbon tax are the richest. When we address the issue of purchasing power, the poorest 10% pay more carbon tax in proportion to their income. If we do not read these two dimensions, in fact, we are having a false debate. We miss the subjects that should irrigate the proposals of the presidential candidates.
The problem with the climate is that it is not palpable?
We talk about nuclear power, wind turbines, animal suffering, but that absolutely does not exhaust the debate. The issue of energy or sources of energy production is a small part of the work that needs to be done to fight against climate change. The condemnation of the State in the context of the ‘case of the century’, it shows that on agricultural issues, on transport issues, there are subjects which are fundamental. It is clear that these questions, for example, are not taken into consideration. It is not only the question of choosing whether we want wind turbines or nuclear power. A scenario that respects the Paris agreement, it must focus on all sectors. When we talk about these other sectors, when we talk about purchasing power, as you say, we are not talking about the climate. We do not wait for the end of the campaign to take stock. We apply a precautionary principle to say: wake up. It is a message sent to the media. It is a message sent to the candidate because there are a certain number of candidates who do not put these questions at all there in the campaign. And that is also why we are organizing a debate which will take place on March 13, where the candidates will be in a very calm setting, specifically questioned on: what are they going to do with the condemnation of the State for climate inaction? What measures are they going to implement in agriculture, in transport, in the transformation of the construction sector to respond to the condemnation?
All candidates are invited to your debate on March 13?
All except the extreme right, because we believe that we will not be able to imagine being able to initiate an ecological transformation. If a far-right candidate becomes President of the Republic, we will be opponents and not in the dialogue to find out how we fight against the retreat of the coastline, while we violate a part of the French population.