President Emmanuel Macron on Monday convened France's first ecological planning council in over a year and a half, aiming to "remobilise" government efforts as the pace of emissions reductions slows.
The meeting brought together some 15 ministers to assess progress on France's climate goals and launch new initiatives – particularly targeting the transport, building and forestry sectors.
"There is a slight slowdown in the reduction of emissions," the Élysée Palace said on Friday, acknowledging that greenhouse gas emissions fell by just 1.8 percent in 2024 according to preliminary estimates.
This reduced pace threatens France's ability to meet its European commitment to halve emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
"This is one of the president's motivations for convening this ecological planning council and relaunching mobilisation in certain sectors where we feel we're not fully on track to reach our objectives," a presidential source told reporters.
France falling short of climate targets as emissions dip slows
Focus on transport, housing
The council is particularly focused on transport and buildings, which remain significant sources of carbon emissions, as well as forestry, where carbon absorption has fallen below expectations.
"In these three sectors, there are a number of existing mechanisms that could potentially be strengthened," the Élysée said.
The government is also keen to enhance support for electric vehicle purchases and initiatives to transition residential heating from fossil fuels to electricity.
"We've talked about support for purchasing electric vehicles, but also everything that allows, for example in housing, switching from fossil fuels to electricity," the president's office said.
The last ecological planning council, held in September 2023, saw several big announcements, including the launch of regional climate conferences, a €700 million package for 13 metropolitan "RER" rail networks, and a plan to deploy one million heat pumps by 2027.
This new council meeting had been scheduled for 28 March but was postponed to make way for meetings over the war in Ukraine.
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Oceans conference
Following the council meeting, Macron also addressed the SOS Oceans conference in Paris, where he outlined priorities for the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice this June.
He pushed for ratification of the 2023 High Seas Treaty, which has been signed by 110 countries but ratified by only 21.
"The goal for Nice is to reach at least 60 ratifications to bring it into force. We're not there yet... There's still a lot of work to do," Macron said.
The President called for new marine protected areas, tougher action against illegal fishing and investment in decarbonising maritime transport, with a target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
"We're seeing major powers cut public research funding and question scientific findings," Macron added in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump.
"There must be no ocean action that is not informed by science."
France is calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining until more scientific knowledge is available.
