Macron urges France’s big polluters to cut emissions by half

November 9, 2022
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French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged the country’s most climate-damaging industries to double their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the next decade, one day after his call for action at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt.

Macron convened a meeting Tuesday at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris with the heads of some 50 industrial sites in France, accounting for about 10% of France’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

He urged the 50 sites, owned by about 30 French and international groups, to cut by half their emissions within the next decade, from over 40 millions of tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere to about 20 millions of tons. The industries include major producers of cement, steel, aluminum and other metals and chemicals.

In exchange, the French state is ready to double its financial aid on condition another similar meeting in 2024 ensures the goal can be met, Macron said.

“If you double your efforts… we will double the financing dedicated to this issue and will increased the state aid package from 5 to 10 billion euros ($5 to $10 billion),” the French leader said.

The move comes one day after Macron called on the world’s nations to “continue to take action” to respond to the climate emergency at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.