2024-02-12 23:45:54

Ecological transition file 3/5

13/02/2024

The President of the Republic presented the country’s future roadmap in terms of reducing greenhouse gases. The CFDT urged the government to open a democratic debate on financing the ecological transition, specifying that this requires equitable sharing of efforts.

Summary of the file

– For a fair ecological transition 1/5

– Let us give ourselves the means to finance our energy and climate strategy 2/5

– A democratic debate on financing the just ecological transition 3/5

– The Green Sentinels serving the just ecological transition 4/5 to be published Wednesday February 14

– Questions for Fabien Guimbretière, CFDT head of sustainable development policy 5/5 to be published Thursday February 15

The President’s roadmap

On September 25, the President of the Republic presented the country’s future roadmap in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, at the end of an Ecological Planning Council organized at the Élysée. He first mentioned the triple challenge of “climate change and its consequences, the collapse of biodiversity and the end of abundance”. Challenges that he intends to combine with the necessary increase in France’s sovereignty, the reindustrialization of the country and the protection of the weakest.

He then detailed the philosophy of the French plan to reduce greenhouse gases, designed in recent months by the general secretariat for ecological planning: reduction of our dependence on fossil fuels, total elimination of coal for our production of electricity on January 1, 2027, creation of 13 metropolitan RERs, development of electric cars and thermal renovation of buildings. A few days earlier, the Prime Minister had announced: “The first step is to reduce our emissions by 55% in 2030 compared to 1990 to comply with the European Green Deal [Pacte vert européen. NDLR]. »

For the CFDT, “there is now an urgent need to move on to operational implementation. This requires involving all stakeholders. » The Confederation believes that democratic planning of ecological transformation is the condition for building the basis of its social and economic acceptability. Through it, the energy transition must combine sobriety, energy efficiency and decarbonization with an energy mix, accelerate investments for the circular economy and take into account the management and treatment of waste from nuclear power.

“Workers are on the front lines of the consequences of ecological transformation. They are also accelerators since they are involved in the decisions that concern them. Moving from ecological planning to operational implementation requires anticipating the consequences, planning the actions to be carried out, and articulating the economic, social and environmental issues. This requires quickly engaging in social dialogue at all levels: companies, branches, territories, with coordination at the national level. This is the condition for a just ecological transition,” means the CFDT.

Redistribute in favor of the most vulnerable households

The debate on funding sources is in full swing: reduce certain expenses to free up new resources? Going into more debt? Raise the taxes ? To what extent should these levers be activated? How can economic actors, businesses and households, access resources to finance their transformations and adaptation? How can we mobilize savings and direct them towards the most impactful projects and maintain the competitiveness of our economy? “The ecological challenges are colossal. This requires sharing efforts equitably,” declares the CFDT.

It specifies that all revenues from carbon taxation at national and European levels must finance investment in the transition (research and innovation, renovation of housing, transport infrastructure, energy efficiency of businesses), support for households to change and compensation for the most vulnerable households and those most exposed to the transition. This implies a powerful redistribution, particularly towards low-income households who are the most vulnerable to the transition even though they emit less CO2.

The Confederation urged the government to open a democratic debate on the financing of the just ecological transition, in order to build a multi-year trajectory in this area and initiate a tax reform. But if social justice must be translated in economic terms and purchasing power, it must also be translated in terms of jobs, job quality, skills, working and living conditions. “This is the condition for a successful ecological transformation. It’s urgent ! », Proclaims the CFDT.

Anthology of climate actions

The CFDT Retraités Métropole Lille organized a conference to raise awareness among its members regarding climate change. In front of 55 participants, a consultant to the IPCC insisted on renewable energies and energy sobriety. A person in charge of the Regional House of Environment and Solidarity highlighted the challenges allowing, through small gestures, to limit one’s energy and water consumption at home, to move towards zero waste or to use more the bike.

In Finistère, before the Covid-19 crisis, six activists from the local CFDT Retraités proposed a reflection on the climate. Their work of clearing the press and scientific documentation resulted in a presentation accessible to all with a slideshow support intended for the retirees’ union sections and the local unions of retirees in the department. A few hundred people benefited from it.

The CFDT Retraités du Doubs used the confinement period to organize, by videoconference, a cycle on mobility. More recently, following the consequences of the war in Ukraine, she initiated a day on the existing heat networks around Besançon, including theory and field visits, to which she had invited members of the Pact of the power to live.

J.-PD, DB and AK

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