Grenelle de l’Environnement

New Caledonia and France create huge Marine Protected Area

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le-nouveau-parc-naturel-de-la-mer-de-corailMore good news people ! New Caledonia – and France – are creating a marine protected area (MPA) of huge size : 1.3 million square kilometers : the parc naturel de la mer de Corail.

This park will be amongst the largest MPAs in the world. Thanks to that, 16 percent of the waters under French jurisdiction are now under an MPAs status, compared to just four percent before.

The management and the financing will be done by the local government, while France will care about the security and police of this critical hot spot for biodiversity.

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New French President outlines his green policies

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I have to admit that I am a tad, a wee bit, late on that as this post should have been published in September. Anyway, here is my latest Cleantechies post, dedicated to the green roadmap of the new French government. Anyway, here is the introduction : ” In September, an environmental conference in France … Read more

Appaling environmental politics in France

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Here we go. The only debate of the French Presidential elections have come and gone. Sunday, Mr. Sarkozy and Hollande will be either reelected or elected as the President of the sixth world economy.

During nearly three hours, none of them have mentioned environmental issues. Peak oil occurred during the last Presidential mandate, but both candidates are acting as if there would be cheap oil for ever and ever.

The next five years are absolutely critical in mitigating climate change AND averting the worsening economic recession because of higher oil prices. Do they care ? It doesn’t seem so.

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How the EU could go for 30% emissions reduction

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Yesterday I was fortunate to attend a conference given by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet – known here by her initials, NKM –  the incumbent Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development of France.

Green causes are going forward in France as she is at the top of this most important Minister and I am sure that the many achievements of the Grenelle de l’Environnement are just the beginning for a more sustainable France.

During the Q&A session after the conference, I was able to ask her opinion on how the European Union could go for more ambitious emissions reduction targets.

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The Grenelle is still alive : some bright ideas

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The cornerstone of the environmental policy in France – the Grenelle de l’Environnement – has been facing wide criticism as it is not going as fast as it should be.

Yet, interesting ideas arose in the last weeks on reducing the light pollution at night and providing financial aid to those willing to insulate their housing.

The French daily le Figaro provide us more data on what could become enacted laws that would cut our emissions and energy consumption.

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The French tax system for the promotion of efficient cars

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The French Grenelle de l’Environnement may not be as advanced as it should be, but one of its first part is already in place since January 1st. It is a huge success.

Since this date, if you buy a car in France you may be the subject of a price reduction or an additional tax on your car, depending on its carbon dioxide emissions, and thus its mileage.

This mechanism was created by the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Energy to promote the replacement of older cars by new efficient ones.

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Further on le Grenelle de l’Environnement

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Many of my international readers have been willing to know more on le Grenelle de l’Environnement and the decisions that have been taken afterwards.

They can rejoice as the concluding speech by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been translated into English, Spanish and German.

You can access to the Adobe’s PDF full versions on the official website of the Grenelle or click on the links in the rest of the article.

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