French Ministry issues draft policy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

The French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition (MEIT) has submitted to the Council of Ministers a draft law on energy and climate aimed at setting France on a zero-emissions track by 2050. This new draft law lists a set of goals including a reduction in the consumption of fossil-fuels to at least 40% by 2030 (instead of the 30% target set at the Energy Transition Act (Loi de transition énergétique, 2015)). The draft also establishes a zero-coal target by 2022 and the reduction of the share of nuclear power in the power mix to under 50% by 2035, instead of 2025. Other major targets are envisioned such as the complete elimination of the use of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040 and the renovation of all low-insulation houses within 10 years (building sector).

The draft takes some of the goals set at the Energy Transition Act of 2015 such as cutting GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 (and dividing them by 4 by 2050) and increasing the share of renewables to 32% of final energy consumption by 2030. It also builds on the French Strategy for Energy and Climate, that is based on two pillars, namely the National Low Carbon Strategy and the Multiannual Energy Plan (Programmation pluriannuelle de l'énergie, PPE) issued in January 2019.

In January 2019, the government unveiled the revised 10-year multiannual energy plan (PPE) to 2028, which has two main targets: tackling climate change by cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and diversifying the electricity mix by reducing the country's dependence on nuclear power. The PPE aims to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, including a strong reduction in fossil fuel consumption compared with 2012 levels (-20% in primary consumption of fossil fuels in 2023 and -35% in 2028) and in final energy consumption (-7% in 2023 and -14% in 2028).