France Announces Plan to Cut Emissions 55% by 2030

French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled the country’s “ecological plan” to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, in line with the EU’s interim climate goals.

According to the President’s presentation of the plan, reaching the 2030 goal will require a major acceleration in the country’s GHG emissions reduction progress, ramping to 5% per year through 2030, from around 2% annually over the past 5 years.

In order to kick-start progress, the strategy includes a plan to significantly ramp climate-focused investments to €10 billion next year, compared with €3 billion in 2023. Key areas of investment detailed under the plan include boosting building energy efficiency, developing energy technologies including hydrogen and renewable natural gas, and natural resources, farming, agriculture and forestry.

The plan also aims to boost clean mobility and renewable energy including developing offshore wind farms, producing 1 million electric vehicles by 2027 as well as opening 4 battery plants in Northern France, and investing €700 million in commuter train projects around big cities.

One of the plan’s key focus areas is on cutting reliance on fossil fuels. Macron announced that the country’s last coal-fired electricity generation plants will be closed by 2027 and converted to biomass energy plants.

According to Macron, the strategy will focus on incentivizing cleaner technologies rather than outright bans, with plans to introduce incentives to switch to electric vehicles and to install heat pumps.

Macron also said that he has received pledges from 50 of France’s top industrial polluters to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030.