According to a new estimate by the Interprofessional Technical Center for the Study of Atmospheric Pollution (Citepa), France would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions more than previously expected in 2023: a drop of 5.8% (excluding carbon sources) compared to the previous year, compared to 4.8% calculated for the first time. last March. News that the prime minister, Gabriel Attal, hastened to qualify history and consider as evidence that French ecology carried by its Government to pay. Citepa still wanted to qualify.
The improvement, updating and refinement of several indicators, especially for air transport, chemical industry, agriculture and electricity generation, for the publication of Secten’s report explains this different result, more precise, but which will remain consolidated in 2025 for the year 2023clarifies the association authorized for the area by the Minister of Ecological Transition, insisting that it is an overestimation Update and not the final result. Citepa will provide more details on June 19 in its annual Secten report, but already offers a few keys to understanding.
average annual greenhouse gas emissions by sector, compared to SNBC2 carbon budgets.© Citepa
With 373 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) gross developed in 2023 (compared to 384.5 MtCO2e before the update), France respected the current target National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC2) of 422 MtCO2e/year for period 2019-2023. On the other hand, for the same period, counting land use and changes in land use (LULUCF), (this budget) is not respected: the observed average of 380 MtCO2e/year compared to the target of 379 MtCO2e/year, i.e. an excess of 1.4 MtCO2e/year. And that, even though the LULUCF data for 2023 they have not yet been specifically evaluated due to the lack of reliable indicatorsspecifies Citepa.
Finally, the center clarifies that this is not a record drop even though the forecast is for the total missions for 2023 remains below the record minimum level of 2020, due to the impact of the health crisis caused by Covid-19. In 2014, a very mild winter compared to the previous year, for example, resulted in a drop of 6.6%. In this regard, Citepa admits that it observed, from 2023. an unprecedented situation in which all the main emitter sectors participate in reducing the number of missions, in a certain context (inflation, continued nuclear production, etc.), but without a major economic crisis.
Article published on May 23, 2024