The Senate calls for abandoning the objective of "zero net artificialization of soils" set for 2031

Included in the 2021 Climate Law, the ZAN aims to stop urban sprawl by 2050.

By this date, any new urbanized area must be compensated by the renaturation of an equivalent area.

An intermediate objective provides for halving the rate of artificialization by 2031 compared to the period 2011-2021.

According to the cross-party group monitoring the implementation of the ZAN, which brings together 18 senators from three committees, there is a "broad consensus around the need for land sobriety".

But despite the relaxation introduced by the law of July 20, 2023, which notably guarantees one hectare per municipality, serious difficulties of application persist, requiring "legislative and regulatory developments", their report estimates.

The cause is in particular the lack of support for local elected officials by the State, "less of a developer than a shopkeeper", but also artificialization calculations deemed too complex.

"The strategy that has been set out (...) is centralising, arithmetic, and as such it is unfair to the territories that are already committed to land sobriety," declared the centrist senator from the North, Guislain Cambier, during a press briefing.

"With a wet finger"

If the 2050 objective is "not called into question", the senators question the trajectory, calculated according to them "at random, without an impact study".

For the period 2021-2031, the report proposes different tools to remain "within the framework of the law": possibility of exceeding the authorized artificialization envelope by 20%, better financing of sobriety, exemption from the calculation of artificialization of the "green" industry and new constructions of social housing.

They propose other tools for the post-2031 period and advocate an approach "from the territories", but also question the advisability of further postponements of the timetable, or the exclusion of the artificialisation of major national projects from the count.

The 2031 target is generally considered to be unattainable. "Is the minus 50% (...) still relevant or not? (...) Is this the right way to go about it?", asked LR senator Jean-Baptiste Blanc, rapporteur of the monitoring group.

"It is essential that elected officials and the administration are able to explain this policy, otherwise the ZAN could lead to a crisis similar to that of the 'yellow vests'," the authors also warn.

A report is due to be submitted shortly by another working group on ZAN financing, following which the senators plan to submit a bill.

During his general policy speech, Prime Minister Michel Barnier said he was in favour of a new development in regulations.

"We must develop the 'zero net artificialisation' regulation in a pragmatic and differentiated manner to meet the essential needs of industry and housing," he told MPs.

"Returning to the simple voluntarism of local elected officials to self-regulate does not work, the figures for current national land consumption show this", regretted the environmental group in the Senate in a press release, recalling that the nibbling away of natural, agricultural and forest land consumes "around 20.000 hectares per year".