In its National Low-Carbon Strategy, Stratégie Nationale Bas Carbone, France had set a clear trajectory on increasing its carbon tax. However, the new government elected in 2017 decided last year to increase it even more than anticipated. As the increase is slowly cumulating with fossil fuel price hikes, the Government faces unprecedented mobilization against fossil fuel increase; this could have been avoided if the context had been explained and social compensation had not been neglected. Unfortunately, the former State Secretary to the Environmental and Social Transition (MTES – Ministre d’Etat à la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire), Nicolas Hulot, has done a poor job on the advocacy and enlightenment of the people, leaving them with no clue on how to face this suden jump in carbon tax, although it had been anticipated by the the so-called “French Elite”, now bitterly criticized for its ignorance of the real condition of underprivileged people.

This is exactly what the Paris Agreement is designed to avoid: lack of practical implementation due to the gap between the understanding of the problem and the lack of means and solution awareness among the people; while greenhouse-gas-driven climate change is a widely accepted fact among the French people, in large part thanks to people like Nicolas Hulot, insufficient compensation and information about effective solutions has plagued the action of all former governments and resulted in excessive CO2 emissions in France for the past 10 years, compared to its 2020 objectives.

At this point, Climate Scorecard and partner organizations (Saving Our Planet) recommend to French President Emmanuel Macron, recently appointed “Champion of the Earth”, a unique title so far, to up his game and adopt a practical, aggressive strategy to switch to a Carbon Fee & Dividend policy, similar to that recently adopted by Canada, albeit at a much lower level than required to reach the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This strategy is drawn from the main conclusion of the IPCC SR15 report published in October 2015: Worldwide Carbon Neutrality (WCN) must be reached before 2050 in order to limit global warming to +1.5°C.

Climate ScoreCard urges the French Government to adopt clear-cut low-emission investment bonuses or a general “carbon fee and dividend” like the one adopted by Canada a few weeks ago. The “Carbon fee & dividend” scheme has been proposed for many years by CCL, the Citizens Climate Lobby, as a means to effectively amplify the price signal effect of GHG emissions with a clear orientation to the benefits of such a tax: everyone receives a dividend, i.e.. a yearly allowance, that they can spend or save on low-carbon solution. The amount of the dividend is equal to the total sum of the tax, minus collection fees and a large budget for education and media communication campaigns to inform the public about the most efficient low-carbon alternatives, divided by the number of beneficiaries (households). Companies do not receive any compensation because they usually have more budget for choosing between fossil and alternative energy solutions. A border compensation scheme is established to account for the level or lack of “Carbon fee & dividend” scheme, or an equivalent carbon price scheme, in other countries. Finally, care must be taken to offset the level of the carbon price depending on the kind of GHG source, or worse, the exclusions on some companies and industrial sectors, which in principle, should be eliminated in order to ensure a faire treatment of all economic actors. In fact, a previous version of the carbon tax in France had been repelled ten years ago by the Conseil Constitutionnel, the French equivalent to the Supreme Court, on the grounds that too many exclusions created an unfair treatment between taxpayers.

Activity Ranking – Right Direction

France and the European Union can and should adopt a “Carbon Fee & Dividend” system (CF&D), in order to decrease significantly CO2 emissions every year. Otherwise they will miss their 2030 GHG emissions reduction objectives (-40% CO2 equivalent with respect to 1990). A border compensation scheme and precise monitoring of carbon tax efficiency must be implemented before 2025. The addition of the CF&D to CETA followed by the extension to the other European countries, the US and Mexico is recommended before 2030.

Take Action

Write to French Republic President, Mr. Emmanuel Macron:
Example of contribution text:

“Mister President, Dear Sir,
France has trouble setting up a framework for a carbon tax: those long overdue decisions are not yet shared by the people of Franc, who have been ill-prepared for lack of a clear context and long-term objectives supported by short-term practical measures for implementation of our commitments to reduce GHG emissions by 23% in 2020 compared to 1990, 50% in 2030 and 100% in 2050. As you rightly pointed out, Mister President, on 12/12/2017 at the One Planet Summit, “we are losing this battle: this is unacceptable”. We have noticed that in other countries, an awful lot of money, hundreds of billions of euros, have been invested with very little effect.
You also said: “CO2 emissions are top priority”. We certainly agree that increasing CO2 emissions is no longer an option and that this trend must be reversed. Climate Scorecard and Saving Our Planet propose the adoption of an EU-wide CF&D, “Carbon fee & dividend” system by 2025, to be applied in France as early as 2020: details have been published in our Post #10 on the France Climate Scorecard post page: https://www.climatescorecard.org/france/
Here is a short summary:
Carbon tax paradigm shift: current levels and number of exclusions to the carbon tax (Carbon Component of TICPE) defeat its purpose. France must focus more on implementing effective carbon pricing schemes, such as a universal carbon tax without any partial or hidden exemptions (the useless ETS must be terminated and replaced by a European CF&D). A border compensation scheme and precise monitoring of carbon tax efficiency have yet to be implemented.
Educative levels: 100 €/tCO2 by 2025, 200 €/tCO2 by 2030, 400 €/tCO2 by 2040, 1600 €/tCO2 by 2050.
compensation: the public will accept and admit the consequences of such a hefty carbon tax only if:
an identifiable compensation is made available to them,
education and information towards effective alternative solutions with validated, unequivocal CO2 emission reduction or capture are identified.
Therefore, Climate Scorecard urges your Government to consider the implementation, in France and in Europe, of a Carbon fee & dividend scheme, replacing the current CCE/TICPE and ETS schemes, which have failed and are not understandable by the general public. We consider that France is a role model for many countries, that each lag year towards effective CO2 emission reduction may cause an irreversible change of temperature of about +0.1°C per year, from +1.0°C in 2018. We are only 5 years away from crossing the +1.5°C threshold forever. Therefore, our actions should be swift, coordinated, unequivocal and effective immediately. We hope that your own services and the Ministère de la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire will be willing to work with us in order to redirect Climate Change Action in France and worldwide, towards more ambitious climate goals and effective measure, such as Carbon Neutrality before 2050.

Send This Action Alert Message to: Write to French President Emmanuel Macron, Champion of the Earth, at:
http://www.elysee.fr/ecrire-au-president-de-la-republique/

Education organizations, NGOs and community services in your neighborhood
To contact us for more information, email Climate Scorecard French Country Manager: Stephan Savarese at stephan@climatescorecard.org

Afin que les émissions des véhicules électriques soient les plus basses possibles, il est impératif que le mix électrique soit décarboné et à prix modéré, comme c’est déjà le cas en France et en Suède :

Evaluation : *** Sur la bonne voie Augmenter les émissions de CO2 n’est pas une option durable. La France doit maintenant obtenir des résultats tangibles et baisser sensiblement les émissions de CO2 chaque année, notamment dans le secteur des Transports. Sinon, elle n’atteindra pas son objectif 2020 (-23% de CO2). Un objectif vclair serait la décarbonation à 100% des transports publics, urbains et longue distance en 2040, avec dès 2030 les lignes de transports de passagers par trains, bus et cars.

Action pour le climat :

Ecrivez à la Secrétaire d’Etat à la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire, Madame Brune Poirson :
Exemple de contribution :

« Madame La Secrétaire d’Etat,
Certaines décisions politiques sont nécessaire pour réduire les émissions de CO2 #MakeCO2emissionsDecreasingAgain
Or, la France s’est engagée à réduire ses émissions de GES de 23% en 2020 par rapport à 1990, 50% en 2030 et 100% en 2050. Comme le Président Macron l’avait souligné à juste titre le 12/12/2017 au One Planet Summit, “nous sommes en train de perdre cette bataille : c’est inacceptable”. Nous avons bien remarqué que vous placiez régulièrement ce sujet en priorité de votre action et partageons votre volonté d’y parvenir : les émissions de CO2 sont une priorité. Nous sommes d’avis que cela deviendrait possible si la France profitait de son mix électrique décarboné pour accélérer la décarbonation des transports publics, urbains et longue distance ainsi : 100% de trains, cars et bus décarbonés en France d’ici 2030, en supposant que les centrales à charbon soient effectivement fermées avant fin 2021, comme le Président et le Gouvernement s’y sont engagés.
Climate Scorecard encourage le Gouvernement à fixer des objectifs clairs pour les transporteurs et les collectivités :
100% de transports terrestres décarbonés d’ici 2040
100% de transports en commun décarbonés d’ici 2030
Nous espérons également que vous et le Ministère de la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire souhaiterez poursuivre des objectifs plus ambitieux encore pour l’Action Climatique en France, comme par exemple la Neutralité Carbone dès 2040, au lieu de 2050. La France est l’un des rares pays capables de relever ce défi, grâce à son avance technologique et industrielle. Climate Scorecard est à votre disposition pour élaborer de telles solutions.

Climate Scorecard se tient à votre disposition pour une aide précise et efficace afin de dfinir et tenir ces objectifs. Dans l’attente de votre réponse, nous soutenons votre action pour le climat en France et dans le monde.
Avec nos salutations les plus respectueuses [Prénom Nom] »
Envoyez ce Message d’Alerte : ?Ecrivez à la Secrétaire d’Etat à la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire, Madame Brune Poirson à:
Brune.Poirson@ecologique-solidaire.gouv.fr

Ecoles, associations et organismes d’enseignement ou services sociaux
Devenez partenaires de Climate Scorecard en vous inscrivant sur :
https://www.climatescorecard.org/partners/

Pour nous contacter, envoyez un courriel au Directeur National de Climate Scorecard: Stephan Savarese
stephan@climatescorecard.org