Published
Article written by
During COP27, on November 7, French President Emmanuel Macron was interviewed by Nathan Méténier, a young UN climate adviser. They raised the question of the superprofits of the oil companies, and the distribution of wealth.
“Total does not make 1 cent of excess profit in France. All the surplus profit he has is international.” This is what Emmanuel Macron said during his interview on the sidelines of COP27, this Monday, November 7. Taking place this year in Egypt, in Sharm el-Sheikh, the States continue in the momentum of the Paris Agreement, and hope to be able to keep the promises made. The president was interviewed by Nathan Méténier, a young UN climate adviser. “As a population, you know how much we all struggle with this inflation. It doesn’t matter where we are. (…) Why don’t we all get together to ask that these fossil fuel companies not be able to find themselves in situations where they allow themselves to obtain so many profits?”, asked the young man.
“My first point is, the inequalities with regard to companies, you will settle them only with a system of international cooperation which changes capitalism, it is the minimum axis. Not statewide, that’s not true. And that’s what we pushed, that’s what we got in principle, now we have to speed up its implementation“, replied Emmanuel Macron.
“The second thing, the rent of the situations of the States which produce hydrocarbon, you leave there only if you accelerate the fast exit of hydrocarbons. In any case, if you reduce your addiction. And this is exactly the agenda that we carry around three pillars: sobriety, acceleration of renewables, and nuclear. And we only go through the three. We don’t know what to do, when we get out of dependence on fossils, if we only have one of these pillars. It’s not true. All renewable does not work. All sobriety kills growth and job creation, and all nuclear does not work either. It’s the three together”, he adds.