Macron: It’s vital for the world to remain committed to the Paris Agreement of 2015

In France, we have reduced our greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% compared with 1990, including 20% between 2017 and 2024. We went from a reduction of less than 1% per year before 2017 to annual reductions of more than 2% on average from 2017 to 2021—and more than 4% on average between 2022 and 2024. Our goal is a 50% reduction by 2030, which means 270 million fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere every year.

[It shows the] success of our unique approach to ecology, which combines progress and protection, and enables us to reduce both emissions and unemployment at the same time. We never impose a rule without providing an accessible alternative and refuse to sacrifice our competitiveness.

Our aim is to combine sovereignty, employment and decarbonization. How? Through clear choices.

Ecology is at the heart of all our economic, planning, energy, agricultural and industrial policies. The National Low-Carbon Strategy is a case in point: it sets our course toward carbon neutrality, shaping all our policies. We rely on six principles:

Respecting and protecting science: We are guided by the consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has begun preparing its seventh report and held its first meeting with all its authors in Paris. This is why we invest so heavily in climate research and innovation—to find new decarbonization solutions.

Through our Research Programming Law and France 2030 programme, we have funded practical research and hundreds of projects related to climate change in various fields, from small modular nuclear reactors and low-carbon hydrogen to sustainable fuels and water management.

At a time when scientific voices are being challenged, we will continue to accelerate in this area and attract the best researchers.

Ending dependence on imported fossil fuels: We are choosing a decarbonized and sovereign energy system—essential for both national independence and climate protection. As early as 2022 in Belfort, I outlined the main pillars of our energy policy: reducing fossil-fuel consumption, developing renewable energy and relaunching nuclear power. This has succeeded: In 2024, our electricity was more than 95% decarbonized.

We have identified zones where offshore wind farms will be developed by 2050. The nuclear sector has been revived, with initial construction and financing already underway on six new EPR2 reactors. Small reactors for heat production are also being developed. We are building a sovereign energy industry and I intend to go even further: by 2027, we will close or convert the last coal-fired power plants.

Helping industry decarbonize: Reindustrializing France means helping decarbonize the world. Green investment in France has increased by nearly 30% in three years.

Green industry accounted for one in three new factories in 2024. We have already launched decarbonization efforts for the 50 largest industrial sites—representing about 10% of France’s total emissions. By 2030, these sites will have halved their emissions. Our green industries are creating jobs. We plan to produce electric vehicles, batteries, heat pumps and solar panels.

[As for the rest of Europe], I hope that the European Commission’s upcoming announcements will show that momentum is building, so that Europe truly becomes the site of the world’s most ambitious decarbonization projects.

Progress for people: Ecology must improve people’s daily lives. Renovating our homes allows everyone to lower their energy bills, helps France reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increases everyone’s quality of life. This requires constant attention to equality and purchasing power. Through our social leasing programme, 50,000 low-income households were able to acquire a new vehicle in 2024 for less than €100 per month and another 50,000 will benefit this year.

Adapting to climate change: We must prepare for the consequences of climate change. We have adopted our third National Adaptation Plan and defined a reference pathway to align all our policies—from the local to the national level.

Carrying the fight to Europe and the world: Europe is the most climate-ambitious continent with a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The EU is also the world’s leading provider of climate finance. France embraces its role as a guarantor of the Paris agreement and of climate action.

To this end, in 2017, I launched the One Planet Summit to build cross-sector coalitions capable of acting simultaneously on emissions reduction and adaptation projects.

Since then, we have launched 50 initiatives to fight climate change. Our programmes led to the UN’s adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the High Seas Treaty, as well as to the mobilization of €4 billion to combat plastic pollution and over €19 billion for biodiversity protection and food security.

Ten years after CoP-21, France also hosted the UN Ocean Conference, aimed at protecting unique ecosystems that are vital to the climate. We support Just Energy Transition Partnerships and seek innovative financing solutions that align private investment flows with global decarbonization goals. This was our message at CoP-30 in Belém.

The decade since CoP-21 has been a period of success and ambition. But it has also been marked by international tensions, the questioning of science, international division and efforts to erase the universal ideal of liberty and fraternity among peoples.

As always, France will play its full part in the struggle for our climate and our planet, guided by respect for science, industrial ambition, progress, solidarity and the exemplary leadership of Europe.

Let’s aim for collective success over the coming decade. This can be achieved—if we remain faithful to the commitments we made in Paris 10 years ago. ©2025/Project Syndicate

The author is president of France.