France : "Energy Sovereignty" bill, urgent changes needed

On Monday, France's Minister of Energy Transition submitted the draft bill on energy sovereignty to the CNTE (Conseil national de la transition écologique) for consultation. The aim of this bill is to "implement France's energy and climate strategy, in response to the ecological and climatic emergency, while strengthening our country's energy sovereignty". The Solar Impulse Foundation took part in the consultation process organized upstream.

Renewable energies suffer from a lack of quantified targets, and seem to play only a minor role in France's energy ambitions.

With the exception of heat and cooling, this bill is devoid of any concrete targets for production from renewable sources, even though the solutions exist and are ready to be deployed. It is therefore imperative to include quantified targets for total energy production from renewable sources by 2030.

Another major topic, energy efficiency, is mentioned only once, and only as a complement to "sobriety". Yet these are two separate actions that also require separate quantified targets.

These shortcomings are all the more regrettable given that, in order to arrive at a serious, well-constructed French energy-climate strategy, the Minister had initiated an exemplary consultation process involving experts in the field. A process to which the Solar Impulse Foundation contributed, following several years of commitment, notably through the Prêt-à-Voter campaign. It has to be said that this mobilization has not been taken into account.

We therefore call on the new French government to include a quantified target for the production of energy from renewable sources, and to include a quantitative target in terms of increased energy efficiency.

One of the successes of COP28 was to demand a tripling of renewable energies and a doubling of the annual increase in energy efficiency by 2030. This should serve as an incentive for all countries.

This is all the more important as similar discussions are currently underway at European level to set the Union's climate targets for 2040. Targets for reducing consumption and increasing production of energy from renewable sources are essential if we are to achieve our climate objectives and support our industries in these areas. A clear, quantified political signal from member states is essential to stimulate demand and hence investment.