The crusade of left-wing mayors against the development of 5G continues.
Sunday, 68 elected officials published a column in the
Journal du dimanche
calling for a "
democratic debate
" on the installation of this new technology as well as an "
immediate moratorium
", running until the summer of 2021 "
at least
".
What relaunch an already tense debate on the file.
Read also: Deployment of 5G: no reason to worry about health
Among the signatories, we find eleven mayors of large cities, including those, green, of Strasbourg, Lyon, Tours, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Marseille, Grenoble and Besançon, as well as those, socialists, of Blois, Bourg-en-Bresse and Villeurbanne .
In addition, there are other national elected officials, such as the Insoumis Alexis Corbière, Adrien Quatennens, François Ruffin and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as well as the ecologists Yannick Jadot and Julien Bayou.
Elected officials demand a debate on “
5G and digital uses
”.
In addition, they demand a “
right to subsidiarity
” for the municipalities on the application of the precautionary principle.
They believe that the finalization of the deployment of 4G must be a priority over the development of 5G, declared "
strategic issue for France [...] without a climate and environmental impact study or any prior public consultation
" and whereas "
the real usefulness of 5G is nowhere near as obvious as the mobile operators or the government claim
”.
Read also: Telecom operators confronted with opponents of 5G
The authors underline the “
environmental impact
” of 5G and point to the increase in data consumption and usage that the deployment of the technology will entail, “
synonymous with very high energy consumption
”.
Indirectly, 5G, they believe, will increase pollution and the consumption of natural resources to produce compatible devices.
They therefore demand an “
environmental impact study
” before arriving in the territory.
At the same time, the signatories are worried about the effects of
5G "
wave emissions
" on the health of populations and ask to await the publication of a study by the National Food Safety Agency, environment and work, on the subject, before continuing to deploy the technology.
"
It is urgent to question the health impact of the proliferation of hyperconnected objects
", they protest.
Other arguments are also raised, such as the question of the protection of users' personal data as well as the risk of aggravating the “
existing digital divides
”.
Mayors therefore demand the right to choose “
the mode of Internet access and control over the development of digital networks
” in their territory.
Read also: Corsica says "no" to 5G
The opposition of elected environmentalists to 5G has been known for a long time.
Some mayors had already warned, in their program, that they intended to speak out against its deployment and the EELV party voted a motion in July calling for a “
moratorium on 5G
”.
Recently, the Citizen's Climate Convention also expressed a mixed opinion on the technology, proposing "
to assess the advantages and disadvantages of 5G compared to fiber before and not after granting licenses for its development
".
She therefore also asked for a "
moratorium on the implementation of 5G pending the results of the 5G assessment on health and climate
".
In August, the Corsican Assembly voted for a moratorium on the deployment of the new generation of mobile telephony on the Island.
The government and industry professionals continue to fight on this subject, recalling the usefulness of 5G, from an economic point of view, as well as its beneficial effects on energy consumption.
"
The
5G consumes ten times less energy than 4G
," recalled recently the CEO of Orange, Stéphane Richard.