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Bath in the crowd: Emmanuel Macron at a campaign event in Marseille
Photo: Guillaume Horcajuelo/EPA
French President Emmanuel Macron has promised if he is re-elected on Sunday next week that he will focus more on climate and environmental protection policy.
He will ensure that France is the "first major nation to get out of oil, gas and coal," said Macron at a campaign rally in Marseille, southern France.
His future prime minister should therefore be responsible for “ecological planning”.
Macron reaffirmed his commitment to nuclear power at the rally.
In addition, there should be a national day of nature every year.
The first round of elections last Sunday, in which almost eight million voters lifted the left-wing populist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to third place with his ecologically oriented program, sent a “strong message”, Macron said.
He understands young people's concerns "about the future of our planet," said the President, and promised a "complete renewal" of his policies.
Macron announced new investments in green technologies, energy-saving home renovations and organic food production.
At the same time, he declared war on air pollution and single-use plastic.
Macron's speech was primarily aimed at young and left-wing voters who had supported Mélenchon and other candidates in the first round and whose votes could be decisive in the runoff.
Traffic blockade against Le Pen
In the second round, Macon meets right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, who also wooed Mélenchon's voters during a campaign appearance on Saturday.
Appearing in the small northwestern French commune of Rémy-sur-Avre, where she had won over 37 percent of the vote in the first round, Le Pen vowed to govern "like a common-sense mother" and protect the "weakest."
Meanwhile, hundreds of people in Paris and around 30 other cities took part in demonstrations against Le Pen. A broad alliance of activists and trade unions had called for nationwide actions against right-wing extremism and racism.
At the same time, hundreds of activists from the group Extinction Rebellion blocked an important traffic axis in the center of Paris.
On Saturday, they blocked traffic on the Grands Boulevards over a length of 300 meters with sit-ins and a barricade made of hay bales to draw attention to the climate emergency.
A spokeswoman criticized the fact that the environmental debate has largely been left out of the election campaign so far.
According to them, the action should last until Monday.
In recent polls, Macron was able to extend his lead over Le Pen.
According to an Ipsos Sopra/Steria poll released on Saturday, 55.5 percent of those polled would vote for the 44-year-old incumbent president in the second round on April 24, compared to 44.5 percent for his 53-year-old challenger.
atb/AFP/dpa/Reuters