The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has given the green light to a major programme of action on the environment, which has been greeted with satisfaction but prudence by many observers.

The announcement is the culmination of several months of frenzied activity in a series of working parties (the Grenelle de l’Environment) presided over by Minister of the Environment Jean Louis Borloo, who was able to bring about a surprisingly strong degree of unanimity from trade unions, NGOs, local authorities, business and agricultural interests.

In the presence of Nobel Prize winning Al Gore, and President of the European Union José Manuel Barroso, the French President called for ‘a revolution in the way we think and the way we take decisions; a revolution in our behaviour, in our policies, in our objectives and in our criteria.’

The main proposals were:

• Transport – the construction by 2020 of 2000 kilometres of high-speed TVG rail lines; building of 1500 kilometres of tramway lines outside of the Paris region; investment on inland waterway systems, with the objective of removing over a million lorries from the roads by 2020. 
• Housing - An increase in energy efficiency standards for new housing with a view to reducing household energy consumption by 40% by 2020; doubling of the number of older properties renovated each year to 400,000, and a massive programme of investment in public buildings with a view to a major reduction in energy consumption; a ban on incandescent light bulbs by 2010, to be replaced by obligatory energy saving lights; a ban on the use of single pane window glazing in new buildings by the same date, and tightening of energy consumption standards on household electrical equipment.
• Energy - Continued use of nuclear power, but no new nuclear power station sites; investment in alternative energy sources, to at least reach the European target of 20% of total energy consumption by 2020; a review of the place of 'second generation' biocarburants as an energy source for vehicles.
• Agriculture – A reduction in the use of pesticides by 50%, if possible, within the next 10 years; all public sector canteens to have a least one school lunch a week made entirely from organic produce; a ban on the sale by 2008 of those pesticides considered to be most harmful to health; the suspension of the planting of new GM crops until the outcome of a specialist study into the issue.
• Health - Noise insulation measures within 5 years for all properties located near airports; a national plan to be prepared by 2008 on environmental health covering new technologies, transport, and 'environmental equity'; a law on air pollution; €1 billion investment into environmental research.
• Public Sector – All public sector contracts to contain appropriate clauses concerning environmental obligations; all government departments to draw up a carbon balance, with a view to improving energy efficiency by 20%; all public sector vehicles to be environmentally friendly by 2009.
• Taxes - Introduction of heavy goods vehicle tax on all foreign vehicles crossing French territory; environmental tax on new vehicles considered to breach environmental standards, the proceeds of which to go towards a scrap bonus for disposing of old vehicles; the introduction of a reduced rate of VAT on ecologically friendly products; a tax on those imported products which breach the Kyoto Agreement, subject to approval by the EU; a study into the introduction of a ‘climate-energy’ tax on fossil fuels, to replace employment based taxes.

Although the discourse was strong on the rhetoric, there are many who remain sceptical that the dream is ever going to become a reality, in large measure because of concerns about funding.

There were also notable omissions in the speech from the recommendations of the Grenelle, with the agricultural lobby, in particular, obtaining some last minute concessions. Some proposals were also made subject to further review, notably on GMOs and the carbon tax. For all the talk of taking lorries off the roads, SNCF have actually been running down their rolling stock.

The uncharitable might also take the view that the Damascus conversion of the French Government to environmental action may not be entirely unconnected with the fact that it is under serious pressure from the European Union for breaches of a number of European directives on the environment in relation to river pollution, waste management, and energy conservation.