Ten years have passed since the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, where 195 countries made a historic commitment to work together to keep the long-term increase in global temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and continue their efforts to limit it to no more than 1.5°C. For its part, France has done everything to make this great moment of cooperation and universal solidarity a success. A decade later, we can be proud of how far we have come.
In France, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared to 1990 (and by 20% between 2017 and 2024). We went from an annual reduction in emissions of less than 1% before 2017 to an annual average of more than 2% between 2017 and 2021 and more than 4% between 2022 and 2024. We aim to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030, which means removing 270 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.
These results are France’s collective achievement: the success of a unique ecological strategy that combines progress and protection and allows us to reduce emissions and unemployment at the same time. We never enforce a rule without offering an accessible alternative. We refuse to sacrifice competitiveness. Our goal is to combine sovereignty, employment and decarbonization.
How? With clear options. I have put ecology at the heart of all our economic, planning, energy, agricultural and industrial policies. I have also given the Prime Minister direct responsibility for environmental and energy planning. A good example is our new National Decarbonization Strategy, a roadmap to carbon neutrality that guides all our policies.
We are based on six key principles:
1) Respect and protect science. We are guided by the consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which began preparing its seventh report last week and held its first meeting with all its authors here in Paris. That’s why we’re investing significantly in climate research and innovation with the aim of finding new decarbonization solutions.
Through our Research Program Law and the France 2030 program, we have funded research on very specific topics and hundreds of projects related to climate change in a wide range of areas, ranging from small modular nuclear reactors and the production of decarbonized hydrogen to sustainable fuels and water management. At a time when the voices of science are being questioned, we will not stop accelerating our work in this area and attracting the best researchers through our Choose France for Science programs.
2) End dependence on imported fossil fuels. We choose a decarbonized and sovereign energy system, essential for national independence and climate protection. Already in 2022, in Belfort, I outlined the cornerstones of our energy policy: reducing fossil fuel consumption, developing renewable energies and reviving nuclear energy. And we did it: in 2024, electricity production in France reached a decarbonization level of more than 95% (an unprecedented achievement in the world).
After an unprecedented consultation and planning process, we have identified areas for the construction of offshore wind farms by 2050. We have revitalized the nuclear sector by initiating the financing and construction process for six new EPR2 reactors (without forgetting the development of small reactors for heat generation). We are building a truly sovereign energy economy, and I propose even more: we will close or convert the last coal-fired power plants by 2027.
3)Facilitate the decarbonization of our industry. The reindustrialization of France contributes to the decarbonization of the world. Green investments in France have increased by almost 30% in the last three years; Green industry accounted for one in three factories opened in 2024. We have already launched decarbonization efforts for the fifty industrial centers with the largest size and emission levels, representing around 10% of France’s total emissions. By 2030, these centers will have reduced their emissions by half.
Our green industries create jobs in all regions of France, and here we plan to manufacture electric vehicles (like the Renault R5 in Douai), batteries, heat pumps and solar panels.
We as Europeans must also continue these efforts: do not stop simplifying, innovating and better protecting these industries from unfair competition. I am confident that the upcoming announcements from the European Commission will show an acceleration in this direction with a real “European preference”, so that Europe is indeed the continent with the most ambitious decarbonization projects in the world.
4) Maintain our goal of progress for people. Ecology is intended to improve people’s daily lives. Building renovation allows every home to reduce its energy costs, helps the country reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increases the quality of life for everyone.
This pursuit of progress requires constant attention to equality and purchasing power. Our social leasing program enabled 50,000 low-income households to purchase a new vehicle for less than €100 ($117) per month in 2024 and will benefit an additional 50,000 households this year. With MaPrimeRénov and the Energy Saving Certificate Program, we are making the transition accessible so that surviving does not mean accelerating the end of the world.
5) Adaptation to climate change. We must prepare for the consequences of climate change, which are already present and will occur at an accelerating rate. We have approved our third national adaptation plan and defined a roadmap that will serve as a reference for aligning all of our policies from the local to the national level.
6) Expand the fight to Europe and the world. Europe is the most ambitious continent when it comes to climate and has the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The European Union is also the world’s largest donor of climate finance. France fully embraces its role as guarantor of the Paris Agreement and global climate ambitions.
To this end, I launched the One Planet Summit in 2017 to build cross-sector coalitions that can work on emissions reduction and adaptation projects simultaneously. Since then, we have launched fifty concrete initiatives to combat climate change. And our programs led to the United Nations approving the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the High Seas Treaty in record time, mobilizing €4 billion to combat plastic pollution and more than €19 billion to protect biodiversity and food security.
Ten years after COP21, France also hosted the UN Ocean Conference, which focused on protecting unique and vital ecosystems for the climate. We have advanced these efforts with respect for the sovereignty of all countries. We support “Partnerships for a Just Energy Transition” and seek innovative financing solutions that align private investment flows with global decarbonization goals. This is the message I brought to COP30 in Belém.
The decade since COP21 has been a time of success and ambition. But it was also a time of international tension, questioning of science, division between countries and attempts to abolish the universal ideal of freedom and brotherhood between peoples. As always, France will give its all in the fight for the climate and the planet, guided by respect for science, industrial ambition, progress, solidarity and the exemplary leadership of Europe. Let us make the next decade an era of collective triumph by staying true to the commitments we made in Paris ten years ago.
Copyright Project Syndicate, 2025.
