France will close all its remaining coal-fired electricity plants by 2021, President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.
“France only produces around 1% of its energy from coal-fired stations, as the country is 99% dependent on hydrocarbon imports,” EcoWatch notes. “However, the move from the world’s fifth-largest economy shows it is determined to be a leader on climate issues, and sends a signal to other nations.”
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The announcement speeds up a phaseout that former French president and Paris agreement architect François Hollande had already set for 2023.
Macron told Davos delegates he wants to “make France a model in the fight against climate change”, warned that “on climate change, we’re losing the battle,” and called for concrete action to implement the Paris agreement by 2020.
He added that his Make Our Planet Great Again campaign has become a pillar of his economic reform plan. “That is a huge advantage in terms of attractiveness and competitiveness,” he said. “Talent will come where it is good to live. We can create a lot of jobs with such a strategy.”
The French president also took a jab at the climate-denying Trump administration, contrasting his own style with the former reality TV star’s preoccupation with fossil fuel development. “When you arrive here and see the snow, it could be hard to believe in global warming,” Macron said in his opening remarks. “Obviously, you don’t invite anyone skeptical about global warming this year.”
Earlier this year, InsideClimate News reported on the latest in a series of studies and statements citing the North American cold snap as an example of global climate change.
