Citizens' Climate Convention: a referendum that raises questions

Nine referendums have been organized under the Fifth Republic since the 1958 constitution. The French were notably called upon to decide on the Evian agreements, the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage, the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty or the reduction of the presidential mandate to five years.

Will Emmanuel Macron soon ask the French to give their opinion on the best solutions to adopt to fight against global warming? This is the idea he submitted this Friday evening to the 150 people who have been working for months on this subject within the Citizen Convention on Climate (CCC).

The head of state wishes "on a few measures, to call for a referendum". Since October, the citizens drawn by lot within the framework of the CCC have met three times and have interviewed experts around five themes: moving, lodging, food, production, work and consumption with in mind. objective to reduce France's carbon footprint.

"Proposing a referendum on ecology is a world first, salutes MEP (Renew) Pascal Canfin, close to Emmanuel Macron. Citizens now have the hand to make five or six big proposals that will lead to concrete actions in energy, taxation, transport. "

Integrate ecology into the constitution

What measures will come out of the hat? From the Palais d'Iéna where he sits in the convention until Sunday, Grégoire, 31, from Normandy, tells us that he would very much like an amendment to article 1 of the constitution. "We are more and more thinking that we should add a sentence on the preservation of ecology," explains this association manager. Symbols are important to give momentum. "

Victor, 47, self-employed in Yonne, abounds. "The constitution is the foundation of the law and it is binding," he explains before stating another idea: "The establishment of a third chamber (Editor's note: in addition to the Senate and the 'Assembly) managed directly by citizens which would give continuity and legitimacy to our work. "

Close to Nicolas Hulot, who also campaigned for a modification of article 1 of the constitution, the deputy (ex LREM) of Maine-et-Loire, Matthieu Orphelin, however believes that it would be useless to submit this proposal to referendum . "There is already consensus on this idea and it would be better to question the French on more divisive issues. "

Include all measures

"You have to choose the right fight and measure the weight of words," recognizes Amandine. This 26-year-old Parisian, member of the citizens' convention, believes that a referendum on climate protection must necessarily integrate "social justice" measures. A hollow reference to the introduction of the carbon tax, an ecological measure deemed unfair by a part of the population, which had led to the beginning of the movement of yellow vests.

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Aware of the strength of a referendum, Amandine considers that it must relate to subjects "which do not necessarily make consensus but are very concrete and induce real changes in behavior". "Of course we could ask the people whether or not to ban SUVs and energy colanders but there is not a miracle solution in terms of transport or housing," highlights Anne Bringault, Friends of the Earth . The best would therefore be to include all the measures proposed by the 150 citizens and to ask the French if they are for or against. "On condition, warns Victor, that the Senate and the deputies do not then reject the bills that we would have proposed. "

Le Parisien, partner of the consultation "How to act together now for the environment?" ”, Initiated by Make.org, invites you to submit your ideas and vote on those of the other participants in the module below. You will be informed of the results in February 2020.