Soil artificialization: the Senate removes a land sobriety objective

After some lively debates in the chamber, the senators amended one of the central measures of the law.

The national objective set since the 2021 Climate and Resilience Act remains unchanged: to halt urban sprawl by 2050 by offsetting each new urbanized area by that date with the renaturation of an equivalent area.

But an interim milestone, which planned to reduce land artificialization by 50% in 2031 compared to the 2011-2021 period, was removed by senators, as part of a bill from the majority right-centrist alliance.

The elected representatives of the Chamber of Territories have replaced this binding national objective with a "differentiated" intermediate "milestone" in 2034. Its costing will be in the hands of the local authorities territory by territory, and could therefore, depending on the circumstances, be lower than the 50% currently in force.

"We must take into account the rhythms of each and every one of us and not have an arithmetic limit that would be imposed on everyone," justified one of the authors of the text, the centrist Guislain Cambier, who advocates "dialogue and territorialization."

This relaxation has long been desired by the senatorial majority, which wants to be the relay for local elected officials who say they are held back by the constraints relating to the ZAN.

While the rapporteur of the text, Amel Gacquerre, reiterated that this milestone would remain "credible" in view of the 2050 trajectory of land sobriety, the left strongly opposed it, fearing a "renunciation".

Socialist Simon Uzenat criticized the "lowest bidder bonus": "How can elected officials who are willing to reduce by 50% by 2034 accept that in the neighboring territory, the same efforts are not being made?" he asked.

"We can only initiate differentiation when there is a clear, simple, verifiable, measurable objective," he added.

Regional Planning Minister François Rebsamen expressed the same opinion, considering it "essential" to maintain an overall intermediate objective.

"Giving each region complete freedom to set its own target will not guarantee the achievement of an overall reduction target at the national level," he noted. His "compromise" amendment to postpone the ZAN's interim target from 2031 to 2034 was nevertheless rejected.

A formal vote is planned for Tuesday in the Senate on this text, which will then be transmitted to the National Assembly.