the President of the Republic clings to the branches of the good old days

Today the President of the Republic is resuming his ecological fight. He does his part with the hummingbird, he plants trees in the Jura with sixth-form students for his “one young, one tree” operation.

The seeds sown during his trip to the Middle East did not germinate. Emmanuel Macron is not at the heart of the game, Friday November 24, in the implementation of the truce and the release of the hostages. So he is resuming his ecological fight, this front on which he wants to break through at all costs, this five-year term will be green or it will not be, the Head of State announced during the inter-round last year.

Friday afternoon the President plants Atlas cedars, fir trees and maples. With sixth-grade middle school students, in a Jura forest ravaged by the major fires of summer 2022. After these spectacular fires, he set the objective of one billion trees planted in 10 years. At the start of the school year, he announced that he wanted all the children of a generation to plant their tree to help achieve this. Operation one student one tree: the president would like to make it a rite for adolescents, like passing the baccalaureate or the license, those around him speak of “republican ritual”.

Saturday November 25 is Saint Catherine’s Day and according to the saying: “to Saint Catherine, all wood takes root”. The Élysée explains that it wants “reviving tradition in a world where many French people regret having lost their connection with nature and where young people are thirsty for engagement on the climate issue”. October-November is the right time for cuttings or planting, but there has never been an organized tradition, any more than on Saint Abel the country gathers to make mirabelle plum jams.

A reassuring image and a return to tradition

However, this is what is interesting in the vision of the palace: both this need for symbol, but also this aspiration to return to custom, even fantasized. The image of the schoolchildren is pretty, it is even strong. But for environmental specialists, the number of trees planted is a very poor indicator of good forest management. Be careful not to encourage the illusion that planting is enough to save the climate. The top priority is to reduce emissions.

The image of the schoolchildren is pretty and above all it is reassuring. A return to tradition, the complete opposite of an injunction for radical change. A way for Emmanuel Macron to coax those who dream of pressing pause and repeating that his ecology “French-style” would like not to rush so as not to rob. In 2017, he claimed to embody the new world. In 2023, here he is clinging to the branches of the good old days.