The French are more and more in favor of environmental measures, including more restrictive for car traffic.
The barometer reveals that opinion has progressed considerably on several restrictive measures targeting motor traffic:
- 58% of French people declare themselves in favor of the implementation of differentiated traffic which prohibits certain vehicles from driving in the event of a peak in pollution depending on the level of their CRIT'Air sticker (+ 9 points since 2017).
- 55% of French people are also in favor of banning the circulation of the most polluting vehicles all year round, according to their CRIT'Air sticker (+ 7 points since 2017).
Support for traditional measures to limit car traffic in the event of a peak in pollution remains very strong: free transport (91%), the development of public transport networks (89%), encouraging travel on foot and cycling (87% and 82% respectively).
Other measures, which are also binding, remain overwhelmingly accepted, such as: limiting the maximum speed authorized in city centers (69%) and the obligation to deliver goods to the city by clean vehicles, even if this could result in a slight increase in prices (67%).
Quite naturally, the French living in rural communities, less able to find an alternative to their car journeys, are the least favorable to the implementation of traffic restrictions and in particular to the prohibition of circulation of the most polluting vehicles. (51% of the inhabitants of rural communities are against it, against 41% of the French overall).
Also of note, the development of carpooling is well perceived by 77% of French people but has lost 10 points since 2014. Similarly, French people are less favorable to self-service car services (64% in 2019 vs 78% in 2014 ).
94% of French people are in favor of the development of renewable energies
The ADEME barometer reveals that 52% of French people think that it would be possible, within twenty years, to produce almost all the energy needed in the country from renewable energies and 64% declare that they would be willing to pay more to switch from conventional energy to renewable energy. The average increase agreed reached almost 12%, a record since 2014.
Regarding the production of renewable energy at home, 68% of French people (+ 2 points) would be willing to pay a little more to produce their own electricity themselves, 31% of them to become 100% autonomous (+ 6 points since 2016). In addition, one in five French people wants to invest in renewable energy for their home over the next 12 months (+7 points since 2014).
The local production of renewable energies also continues to interest the French. In fact, 86% of them favor local renewable energy production, even if it cost a little more, 57% (+3 points) would be ready to participate personally in the financing of this type of project by placing part of it their money and 31% (+3 points) could even invest more than 500 euros in it. However, the barometer reveals that the French have a very poor knowledge of the existence of this type of project: only 8% of French people know if such projects exist in their region.
The barometer also reveals that the attitudes hostile to the establishment of renewable energy installations (“Pas dans mon jardin” syndrome) declared by the whole population are also in the minority and / or declining:
- 89% would accept one or more solar installations near their homes (-1 point).
- 65% would accept the hydrogen production facility less than a kilometer from their home (+9 points).
- 61% who do not have homes near their homes would accept the installation of a park of 5 to 10 wind turbines (+2 points).
- 56% who do not have a home near their home would accept an anaerobic digestion facility within one kilometer of their home (+7 points).
The French nevertheless keep a certain critical eye on renewable energies
The French are ambivalent about renewable energies, in fact a third (33%, +6 points since 2018 and +9 points since 2014) believe that they are not really ecological (due to the materials and the energy used to make them).
This highlights an increased awareness that there is no quick fix, but that some energies are no less better than others.
Indeed, the appreciation of certain benefits is declining. Slightly fewer French people think:
- that they avoid air, soil and water pollution: 59% (- 6 points since 2014);
- that they use resources that will always be available: 56% (- 7 points);
- that they avoid importing energy: 34% (- 11 points);
- that they make it possible to find a use for waste: 32%, (- 6 points);
- that they support the local economy: 28% (- 10 points);
Finally, ADEME also publishes the fifth wave of its barometer on "French people and new energy technologies". It turns out that, if the French judge these new technologies positively (low-consumption light bulbs and LEDs, photovoltaic panels, electric or hydrogen vehicles, smart meters, etc.), the enthusiasm for these technologies which had tended to grow since 2012 seems to mark the step in 2019. In particular, while photovoltaics remains the preferred technology of the French, communicating electric meters and electric vehicles face doubts about their economic or environmental interest.
To know more : Complete report of the Barometer "The French and the environment 2019"