The State details its battle plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

Reduced consumption, rationalized transport and real estate: in a circular consulted on Wednesday December 6 by AFP, the State details its plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% per year by 2027, and divide them by five by 2050.

In total, the 15 commitments of this plan, published as an annex to a circular sent on November 21 by Elisabeth Borne to the ministries and the administration, "must allow us to respect a trajectory aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. state greenhouse by 22% in 2027 compared to 2022", explains the Prime Minister.

According to the latest available data, the State's emissions stood at around 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mteq CO2) in 2019.

The Minister of Civil Service Stanislas Guerini had already announced in March that he wanted to divide greenhouse gas emissions from state services by five, to bring them to 2 Mteq CO2 in 2050, but without detailing the trajectory in such detail.

The “ecological transformation plan” thus brings together a series of measures and objectives already made public in small quantities, and details a number of new “targets” to be achieved in order to green the state apparatus.

In terms of professional travel, the State, which employs 2,5 million public agents, hopes to reduce its fuel consumption by 5% in 2024 compared to 2022, and by 10% in 2027.

Air travel by agents will have to be reduced by 20% between 2019 and 2024, and even by 30% in 2027.

Real estate

The plan also plans to reduce the energy consumption of the State's imposing real estate portfolio and its operators, which according to the government emits 2,6 Mteq CO2 annually.

By 2027, energy consumption will have to be reduced by 25% compared to 2022 in tertiary buildings (offices, user reception areas, etc.), in line with the "energy sobriety plan" deployed since fall 2022.

Another lever for reducing emissions, the surface area of offices owned or rented by State services will have to decrease by 7,5% by the end of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term.

All oil boilers will finally have to be removed "before 2029", and water consumption reduced by 15% in 2027 compared to 2022.

In a press release published Wednesday, Unsa-Public Service, (4th union in the sector) regretted that the transformation plan had “not been formally discussed with the union organizations”.

“The success of such a plan cannot be imagined without public officials, nor to the detriment of their working conditions,” continued the union.

For the secretary general of Unsa-FP Luc Farré, "it is all together that we will succeed in (...) avoiding a climate catastrophe."

Mr. Farré regrets that the transformation plan was published a few days after another circular, relating to the organization of public services during the Olympic Games, and for which he also considers the prior consultation between government and unions insufficient.

In a press release published at the end of November, the UFSE-CGT deplored that the circular was published "even before the subject was seriously addressed in dialogue bodies such as the common council of the civil service".

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.