Climate Action Network France said on Wednesday that a document presented by the Energy Ministry setting out France’s energy targets for 2030 and put out for public consultation did not contain sufficient data to assess the actions of public authorities, Euractiv reports.
The data presented in this text will form part of the law on energy production and the decree on multi-annual energy programming, which are planned for the beginning of 2024 and are part of the “French Energy and Climate Strategy” updated every five years.
On Wednesday morning, Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said:
We’re in a race against time with not a minute to lose.
According to the document presented, France will reduce the share of fossil fuels in total energy consumption to 42% by 2030 by producing between 360 and 400 TWh of nuclear power, 546 TWh of renewable energy and reducing total consumption from 1,610 TWh in 2021 to 1,200 TWh in 2030.
This ambitious text only reveals France’s energy targets, although it represents the country’s energy and climate strategy. Anne Bringault, Director of Programs at the Climate Action Network (RAC), wrote on X:
It’s a bit rich to talk about a French strategy for energy and the climate when there’s only the energy part and not the uses and all the greenhouse gases.
Pannier-Runacher’s office explained:
Climate targets are still up for arbitration.
Even in the energy sector, the targets presented for discussion are inadequate and make no mention of the share of renewables in France’s total consumption, as stipulated in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED3), Bringault added.
In March, European negotiators agreed on an overall target for the share of renewables in the EU’s final energy consumption at 42.5 per cent, which requires the setting of indicative national targets. The French target, which has not yet been disclosed, is likely to be higher than 42.5 per cent, given that country’s renewable energy deployment is higher than the EU average.
At the same time, however, the national energy climate plan submitted by France to the European Commission on Tuesday (21 November), which was delayed, makes no mention of the share of renewables in the French energy mix by 2030. Instead, the text outlines the prospects for decarbonised energy (58% of final energy consumption), combining renewables and nuclear power. Bringault told Euractiv France:
If the share of renewables is not explicit, it’s because the government doesn’t want it to show.
