Dispatch from France | September '25

Stories to watch in the weeks ahead

• Crunch time for energy plan – France is set to finally adopt its long-awaited, years-long energy programme, also known as PPE 3, which will guide energy production and consumption policies between 2025 and 2035. The energy roadmap has been pushed back for over a year amidst strong political tensions around the project, particularly between proponents of nuclear power and those favouring renewables. Climate advocates said the document, which was submitted for public consultation earlier this year, was insufficient to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 due to an underestimation of France’s electricity consumption in 2035 and an insufficient share of renewables. The government also appears to have removed a pledge to no longer build fossil fuel-fired plants in the latest version. Critics lamented weak investments in climate adaptation.
• Things always come in threes – Following the early departures of former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Michel Barnier, it may soon be the turn of François Bayrou to leave government. France’s latest prime minister has called for a confidence vote in parliament on 8 September on his government’s plan to slash public spending. The idea behind his decision is to decide on “the fate of France,” he said in an interview in late August. While he hopes that the negotiations he is currently holding with opposition parties will enable him to garner enough support, observers believe that his chances of winning the vote are slim, meaning France could once again be left rudderless.
• Debate over wind and solar moratorium – A bill aimed at structuring France’s energy transition, named the Gremillet Law after senator Daniel Gremillet who introduced it, was adopted by the Senate. However, it failed to win unanimous support in the French National Assembly after right wing parlamentarians, supported by the far right, included an amendment that could have imposed a moratorium on all new wind and photovoltaic installations, which some deputies deemed an “economic catastrophe.” The bill, which will pave the way for the energy plan (PPE 3, see above), also includes a massive revival of nuclear power, calling for the construction of 14 new reactors to have 27 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2050.
• Franco-German cooperation – French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed in late August to no longer stand in each other’s way when it comes to energy policy. At a European level, they now aim for an equal treatment of low-emission energy sources, including nuclear power. While Germany will no longer oppose France’s use of nuclear power, France assured support for extending a planned hydrogen network into Southwest Europe. The countries also agreed on a closer integration of their electricity grids. 
• Coal-to-gas conversion push – The French government is pushing a bill that will allow the conversion of coal-fired plants into gas plants rather than shutting them down. This concerns Émile Huchet, one of the two remaining coal plants in the country. State-owned utility firm EDF has confirmed that it will close the other remaining plant, Cordemais, in 2027.
• Natural hydrogen in sight – In the Lorraine region, researchers have uncovered what could be the largest known deposit of natural white hydrogen so far: 46 million tonnes. The discovery could reshape France’s energy industry. Obtained by fracking, naturally occurring “white” hydrogen could make it a low-carbon solution among renewable sources and key to strengthening the country’s energy sovereignty, according to the government. Other deposits have been detected in Aquitaine and the Pyrenees, although it is hard to say at this stage whether the deposits can be exploited or not due to the technical, economic, and environmental challenges.

The latest from France – last month in recap

• Delay in green rules – The French government has urged the European Commission to delay its rules requiring companies to report on their environmental footprint and exposure to climate risk. France had already pushed earlier this year to delay European directives on corporate diligence and sustainability reporting, as well as an agreement on the EU’s 2040 climate target – the EU Commission has proposed a 90 percent reduction in emissions by then. This is not the first time that president Emmanel Macron has called for a “regulatory break” in EU green laws in efforts to help industry.
• Pesticide ban – Faced with pressure from agricultural workers voicing their anger over difficult working conditions and low incomes, the French government has looked to loosen green farming requirements through the controversial Duplomb Law, including relaxing a ban on bee-killing pesticide acetamiprid. Backed by major farming unions but heavily criticised by scientists, health experts, green groups, and citizens – over one million of which expressed their opposition online – the bill suffered a blow by France’s highest court and was revised before being passed into law in order to uphold the current ban of acetamiprid.
• Nuclear in danger – This summer, EDF was forced to shut down four reactors at its Gravelines nuclear power plant due to a swarm of jellyfish in the cooling systems. Scientists believe that warming waters in the North Sea, caused by climate change, are creating the conditions for the species to spread. In the face of increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves, the company has been trying to adapt its nuclear power plants to global warming, which both the French safety authority and the audit institution Cour des Comptes are pushing for.
• Emissions in decline – According to the most recent report by Citepa, a non-profit organisation publishing data on atmospheric pollution, greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.8 percent between 2023 and 2024. The decline was led by the energy industry, which recorded a 10.2 percent drop in emissions. The overall decline is, however, smaller than the 5.8 percent decline between 2022 and 2023.

 Juliette’s picks – highlights from upcoming events and top reads

• Changing the narrative – Tsering Yangzom Lama, Tibetan writer and storytelling advisor at Greenpeace International, shared with Mongabay her take on how to reframe the environmental debate to counter dominant narratives like that of perpetual growth. She advises moving beyond facts and figures and to appeal to people’s morals and emotions.
• A very French enthusiasm – Bruno Bourliaguet dives into energy sufficiency in a research paper, a concept that has taken such a prominent place in the French public debate that it has become the fourth pillar of its energy transition; yet, it has not gained that same traction elsewhere. The Quebec-based researcher examines in his latest study how the term has become an essential government policy tool.
• Environmental imbalances – Our planet has been through five climate crises, all of which had winners and losers. Director Christiane Streckfuß ponders in an Arte programme whether there could be an upside to climate change. But the documentary notes that it is “hard to find mitigating circumstances as it threatens nothing less than life on Earth.”
• Extinction coming closer – Looking across the Atlantic, endangered species have started to flounder. Freelance journalist Lois Parshley investigated for The Atlantic the risks of the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the protections of endangered species.  One change included a reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act’s regulations that would exclude habitat destruction from the definition of “harm.”