France is not meeting its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with many sectors continuing to emit too much CO2 and carbon sinks not working as well as expected, according to the latest Climate-Energy Observatory unveiled on Thursday .
This annual observatory is designed by the Climate Action Network (RAC) with other partners, including the public environmental agency, Ademe.
It compares national emissions with the objectives that have been defined by France as part of its roadmaps, the national low carbon strategy (SNBC) and the multi-annual energy program (PPE).
The country is aiming for zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, that is to say that by this horizon residual emissions must be offset by absorptions by carbon sinks.
The year 2021 resulted in a rebound in gross emissions (without taking into account absorption) of greenhouse gases, with the partial resumption of economic activity.
But France nevertheless respects the trajectory it has set for this indicator, notes the observatory.
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On the other hand, for net emissions (with absorption by forests and soils), “the indicative annual share of the carbon budget is exceeded by 20.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, taking into account the degradation for several years of the sink forest", notes the observatory.
The country thus emitted 404.4 million net tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) last year for a target of 384 million net tonnes.
It is in the forest and soil sector, which should serve as carbon sinks, that the gap is widest between the objective set and what actually happened.
This absorption objective has been “overvalued”, estimated Zélie Victor, responsible for the energy transition at the Climate Action Network.
The absorption of CO2, which remains difficult to calculate, is undermined by the artificialization of the soil, drought or fires.
"It reminds us above all that we will have to bet above all on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and not only on their absorption and better take into account also the development and preservation of forests and soils", underlined Zelie Victor.
The transport sector remains the largest emitter, with 30.1% of national emissions, followed by the agriculture (19.4%) and industry (18.6%) sectors.