Dispatch from France | March '26
*** Our weekly Dispatches provide an overview of the most relevant recent and upcoming developments for the shift to climate neutrality in selected European countries, from policy and diplomacy to society and industry. For a bird's-eye view of the country's climate-friendly transition, read the respective 'Guide to'. ***
The latest from France – last month in recap
- Energy plans back on track– France’s multiyear energy programme, also known as PPE 3, has finally been released. While a relief for many industry stakeholders and market observers, who had been awaiting the long-term plan after years of wrangling, the strategy has been criticised for scaling down wind and solar power targets in favour of nuclear energy. The government has indeed reaffirmed the country’s leading power generation technology as the backbone of the French energy mix, with plans to build six new reactors and possibly a further eight more, and the reversal of a previous legal mandate for state-owned energy company EDF to shut down 14 older reactors. The country’s far-right and far-left opposition parties, the National Rally and France Unbowed respectively, each filed a motion of no confidence, accusing the government of bypassing parliamentary oversight by adopting the new energy plans through a decree rather than a law. Both motions failed.
- Objectives up close – The new energy strategy aims for 60 percent of overall energy consumption to come from decarbonised sources by 2030 and 70 percent by 2035. When it comes to renewable energy deployment in 2035, the framework targets 15 gigawatts (GW) for offshore wind capacities (down from 18 GW), 35 to 40 GW for onshore wind (down from 45 GW), and 55 to 80 GW for solar (down from 75 to 100 GW). The reductions are mainly due to stagnant electricity consumption and the slower-than-anticipated electrification of economic sectors. EDF’s existing fleet of 57 reactors is also expected to produce between 380 and 420 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030.
- Bitter budget – The 2026 state budget was passed by the government of Sébastien Lecornu, an ally of centrist president Emmanuel Macron, by avoiding a direct vote in parliament. It marks a slowdown in public investments for climate, which some critics find to be increasingly dependent on extra-budgetary resources. The Green Fund, a financing mechanism launched in 2023 as part of an effort to boost local green transition projects, has seen its funding reduced almost threefold under this budget – from 2.5 billion euros in 2024 to 850 million euros in 2026. Similar cuts have been flagged for housing renovation and transportation.
- Emissions falling slowly – According to estimates by Citepa, a non-profit organisation publishing data on atmospheric pollution, France’s greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to have declined by 1.6 percent year-on-year to reach 363 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2025. The change is driven by a 3.4 percent drop in the manufacturing and construction industries, but the figure falls short of the annual 4.6 percent drop required to achieve the country’s 2030 climate targets. The energy sector has remained stable, with emissions down 0.2 percent.
Nuclear summit – During the nuclear energy summit, organised on 10 March by France in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency, EDF announced the creation of an advisory board – called FINABe – dedicated to facilitating financing and investments for new nuclear projects globally.
Stories to watch in the weeks ahead
- PPE3 annulment – The new energy plans did not just spark scepticism: several actions to try and annul the law have been submitted in February and March. Most of the objections denounce environmental and financial failures, including one filed by taxpayers’ association Contribuables Associés. The association said that planned funding for renewables under the roadmap constitutes “an illegal tax,” as the text has not been voted on by the lower house of parliament. The top French court still has to come to a decision on these complaints.
- Cleantech boost – The European Commission approved a 1.1-billion euro French state aid scheme in late February as part of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework. The scheme is designed to incentivise investments in additional capacity production for net-zero technologies, including solar, onshore and offshore wind, heat pumps and batteries. Funding, which takes the form of a tax credit, also covers costs related to key components of these technologies and related critical raw materials. The scheme is scheduled to remain in place until the end of 2028.
- Associations in action – French civil society associations have been mobilising over the past few weeks. WWF France and the French League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) have acquired a major part of the Mazerolles wetlands near France’s Atlantic coast, which host more than 200 species of birds, amphibians and fish. In Paris, Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, France Nature Environnement, ZEA and the city of Paris have held tight in the first climate litigation in France against fossil fuel heavyweight TotalEnergies. The court has to decide whether a multinational oil and gas firm can be bound to reduce its own contributions to worsening climate change. Other campaign groups of the environmental movement, like Greenpeace and Réseau Action Climat, are rethinking their strategies to have the biggest impact on the upcoming municipal elections in a context that is increasingly resistant to environmental policies, such as the ban on diesel vehicles in major city centres.
- People on the move – A few changes have occurred in the French energy and climate bubble. At electricity transmission operator RTE, the current deputy secretary general of the government, Émilie Piette, is likely to soon become the company’s new leader. However, the French authority in charge of controlling the integrity of the highest-ranking public officials is examining whether or not there is a conflict of interest.
Juliette’s picks – highlights from upcoming events and top reads
- Wall Street’s oil deals have climate activists resorting to new tactics – After unsuccessfully attempting to shame the world’s largest banks into severing ties with fossil fuels, climate campaigners are contemplating a new playbook. Bloomberg reporter Alastair Marsh takes a look at some new approaches, ranging from framing climate as a national security issue to persuading people to go to greener competitors, rather than just focusing on the reputations of these banks.
- Mongabay puts Indigenous ‘Guardians of Life’ and their planetary stewardship in focus – National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan explained to Mongabay how traditional ecological knowledge can offer social, cultural and ecological benefits which neoliberal economics can’t. This knowledge, as he puts it, is that “of the place that they have lived for a really long time and how they get along with it.”
- The climate question that economists cannot answer – Economic models can predict whether the economic damage caused by climate change may accelerate to catastrophic levels or remain modest thanks to human progress on the energy transition. However, it is much harder to estimate which of these futures is more likely, wrote economist Noah Kaufman for the Atlantic.
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