France needs to invest €66bn a year on climate action, government report states
(EurActiv, 25 May 2023) France must spend €66 billion every year until 2030 in order to hit its climate targets, a new report by a government advisory body says, suggesting more debt and taxing the rich as a way to foot the bill.
France Stratégie, an advisory body attached to the Prime Minister’s office, published its report Monday (22 May) on the economic costs of meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
“This report will be a landmark in the economics of climate change. Like the Meadows report,” Industry Minister Roland Lescure told EURACTIV France. The Meadows report, published in 1972, was the first to theorise the limits to economic growth in the context of climate change.
According to the report, climate action will cost France more than €66 billion annually until 2030. Of that sum, €48 billion will have to be spent on renovating buildings – whether business, residential or public. Another €7 billion a year will have to be invested in the energy field, while €3 billion a year will need to be spent on road transport.
The catch, however, is that a large part of these investments will have to be provided by households, the report notes. Switching to an electric car and renovating the home, for example, come at a price tag which is worth one year of salary for middle-class households and two years of salary for many others in the lower income bracket.
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