Macron's outburst on environmental issues
For four days, President Emmanuel Macron sought to restore his environmental credentials, launching a full-scale counteroffensive on diplomatic, media and political fronts. ON Tuesday, June 10, he vigorously defended the United Nations Ocean Conference, which France co-chaired in Nice with Costa Rica. On Saturday, in an interview with the regional daily press, he publicly rebuked both the government and Parliament, slamming the "enormous mistake" of those seeking to undermine "the priority given to climate in public debate," as key measures of the environmental transition are under attack.
Since François Bayrou's appointment as prime minister, the president's tone had never been so forceful. It is in proportion to the possibility that Macron's initial ambitions might be reduced to almost nothing. Amid the many difficulties he faced toward the end of his term, Macron's predecessor, Socialist François Hollande, could at least point to the success of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21).
By contrast, what we are witnessing today is the dismantling of the 2021 Climate and Resilience Law, with the rollback of the zero net land artificialization target, the elimination of low-emission zones and the loosening of environmental standards. Similarly, the temporary reintroduction of a neonicotinoid pesticide banned since 2020 and the early June announcement of the provisional suspension of one of the government's main programs to support household energy renovation (MaPrimeRénov') on the grounds that it allegedly attracted too much fraud, have fueled the impression of a major step backward.
Avoiding a criminal waste of time
Macron's determination to defend a path that runs counter to the climate skepticism of the far right and at odds with the anti-growth movement that is flourishing among some on the left is unmistakable. Neither accusations of never doing enough, nor the strong public backlash against the proposed carbon tax at the start of his first term (which led to the Yellow Vest protests), nor the current setbacks, seemed to have deterred him from pursuing what he called, in September 2023, "Ecologie à la française" or French-style ecology: science-driven, compatible with economic growth, innovative, competitive, able to boost the country's energy sovereignty and leaving no one behind.
The sense of failure is no less real, however, as the promise, induced by environmental planning, to bring about a genuine change in lifestyles over the long term and with minimal social upheaval has not been kept. Budget reversals, the loss of an absolute majority in the Assemblée Nationale after his reelection in 2022 and the rise of the far right across France and Europe, amid farmers' protests and backlash against regulations, have derailed the ambitions set at the start of Macron's second five-year term (he can't run a third time).
The president's outburst was not just an attempt to salvage his record two years before the end of his term. It is also a warning for the future. The many would-be successors – both on the right and among Macronists – who are unraveling his policies or letting them slide must pull themselves together, as threats to food, health, biodiversity, water, and the climate are accelerating and multiplying. Assuming they do wake up, the main challenge will not be to announce their intentions, but to build a consensus around a method to avoid backtracking and wasting time, which would be criminal. At this point, this is wishful thinking, given how divided and short-sighted France's political landscape appears to be.
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