Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for France

The Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for France is a national cross-sectoral plan. It states that France’s emissions target in respect of non-ETS and non-LULUCF sectors (ESR target) under Regulation (EU) 2018/842 involves a 37% reduction in these emissions by 2030 compared to 2005.
The targets set by France for the reduction of regional GHG emissions are consistent with its EU and international undertakings10. These targets are as follows: (1) achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, or in other words net zero emissions within the country; this target was set in the Government’s Climate Plan published in July 2017, and is therefore enshrined in law; (2) reducing greenhouse gas emissions by -40% by 2030 compared to 1990; this target was set in the Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth, which was adopted in 2015; and (3) in the short and medium term, to comply with the carbon budgets adopted by decree, i.e. the emissions caps that must not be exceeded for successive five-year periods (except for the first period which covers four years, from 2015 to 2018).
The Plan further provides to steer energy mix choices towards zero-carbon energy consumption in existing buildings and new builds; encourage the renovation of all existing residential and tertiary buildings with a view to achieving the target of ‘low-energy building’ standards on average across the entire building stock; increasing energy and carbon performance levels in new builds under future environmental regulations; improving the energy efficiency of appliances and encouraging citizens to be moderate in their use of such appliances; helping businesses to transition to low-carbon production systems and tap into new markets; promoting the early development and roll-out of breakthrough technologies with a view to reducing residual emissions and eliminating them if possible; providing a framework that encourages energy demand management and resource conservation, by prioritising carbon-free energies and the circular economy; stopping waste in its various forms with a view to conserving natural resources; providing more information to consumers so that they can make informed decisions; encouraging economic players to transform their methods of production and distribution; encouraging all stakeholders to reduce waste; encouraging producers to combat waste generation from the product design stage onwards; improving waste collection and management by increasing recovery rates and improving the efficiency of treatment operations; reducing direct and indirect emissions of N2O and CH4 by applying the principles of agroecology and high-precision agriculture; reducing CO2 emissions linked to the consumption of fossil fuels and increasing the use of renewable energies; boosting the production of carbon-free energy and the bioeconomy with a view to reducing France’s CO2 emissions, and increasing the value added by the agricultural sector; reversing the current trend for carbon stored in agricultural soils to be removed, in keeping with the initiative ‘4p1000, soils for food security and the climate’; influencing demand and consumption in the agri-food sectors via the National Food and Nutrition Programme (PNAN); improving inventory and evaluation methodologies; sending the right signals to investors, particularly in respect of carbon prices, and giving them a clear, long-term view of climate policies; ensuring a fair transition for everyone; supporting EU and international action on funding and carbon prices in line with the Paris Agreement; promoting investment into projects that foster the low-carbon transition, by developing funding tools that limit the risks incurred by investors and by adopting stringent criteria for identifying appropriate projects; analysing in more depth the climate impacts of measures implemented with public funding or under public policies, and using this information as a decision-making criterion; ensuring that measures that would run counter to efforts to meet our climate targets do not benefit from public funding; use of bio-based products as substitutes for energy-intensive materials; recovery of energy from bio-based products or from the waste generated from these products as a substitute for fossil fuels; storage of carbon in wood and waste wood products; carbon sequestration in the forestry ecosystem; implementing upstream measures to guarantee the timely preservation and strengthening of carbon sinks and stores in the forestry and wood sector, and their resilience to climate stresses; maximising the effects of carbon substitution and storage in wood products by leveraging supply and demand; monitoring the implementation of policies adopted on this basis and adjusting them regularly in response to any findings, in order to guarantee the achievement of targets and the expected attendant benefits; reversing the current trend for carbon stored in agricultural soils to be removed, in keeping with the initiative ‘4p1000, soils for food security and the climate’; and placing limits on anthropogenic soil development and reducing carbon emissions caused by urbanization.