response to climate change in one country focusing on the actions of non-governmental stakeholders

france problem

Too much reliance on fossil fuel based cars

Too much single use plastics

People started to protest some of the decisions made by the government. We need to get the people on side.

7.2 million poorly-insulated homes all over France in desperate need of renovation. All those stunning Haussmannian relics might look lovely, but the cost to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter can be exorbitant, and many landlords and private homeowners lack the funds to put in the necessary maintenance.

France is reliant on coal based power stations

action

Postponed fuel tax after gilets jaunes protests; required government officials to use trains for trips under 4 hours; switched ministerial fleet to electric/hybrid vehicles

20-year plan to phase out single-use plastics (starting 2020); target of 100% plastic recycled in a "circular economy" by 2025.

New law to offer financial incentives for renovating 7.2 million poorly insulated homes by 2028.

Law to close all coal-fired power plants by 2022; goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 with a 40% cut in fossil fuel use by 2030.

Created a Citizens' Assembly on Climate (150 randomly chosen people) to propose concrete policies to parliament.

3 laws by the citizens assembly on climate

Housing 'decency' will become a legal criteria as of January 1st 2023.

In practice that means that from that date any tenant in a house consuming more than 500 kilowatt of energy per square meter per year can ask the landlord to renovate the building. Heating of buildings currently represents 20 percent of France's greenhouse gases

Coal and oil heaters will be banned in 2022.

As of January 1st 2022, anyone building a new home will have to choose different means of heating, and anyone whose oil or coal boiler breaks down will have to replace it with a different kind of heater.

New limits on development will also be rolled out to limit the "concreting" of natural areas, though the government held back on an outright ban of new shopping malls outside cities, long demanded by green activists.

Future

In December 2020, Macron proposed a referendum to add climate protection to the French constitution, following a key demand from the Citizens' Convention on Climate

The amendment was ultimately passed by Parliament in 2022. France's constitution now guarantees environmental preservation and the fight against climate change, fulfilling the Convention's core goal through a legislative vote instead of a public referendum.

This creates a permanent, high-level legal obligation for government decision-making.