On November 14, France announced plans to address deforestation around the world. It is proposing 17 measures aimed at halting deforestation caused by imports of nonsustainable forest and agricultural products by 2030. Measures include financial aid to encourage developing countries to respect non-deforestation criteria, the creation of a "zero deforestation" label for consumers, and a push for European policy on imports that pose a risk to forests. For the full story, see https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-environment/france-sets-out-pl….

The Ile-de-France region has plans to launch a large fleet of electric bicycles in a state-funded scheme that is aimed at encouraging bicycle commuting to reduce congestion and pollution. Under the scheme, a regional transport agency will provide up to 10,000 electric bicycles for long-term rental in the region with the hope of expanding the fleet to 20,000 bicycles. The bicycles will remain with the users, who can rent them for 40 euros a month, half of which can be subsidized by their employers.

France is taking aim at cigarette butt pollution, and looking to the tobacco industry for help. The government is asking tobacco companies to voluntarily propose commitments to reduce the number of discarded cigarette butts that litter the country's streets and contaminate its water. If the industry does not produce effective commitments by September, the government will force the industry to participate in measures to eliminate cigarette butt waste.

Last week, in a series of moves related to air quality, the European Commission proposed measures to help member states combat air pollution. The Commission also referred France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to the EU Court of Justice for failure to respect limit values for nitrogen dioxide and for failing to take appropriate measures to keep exceedance periods as short as possible. In addition, it referred Hungary, Italy, and Romania to the Court of Justice over persistently high levels of particulate matter.

Last Thursday, the French government launched a plan to renovate 500,000 homes every year to make them energy efficient and to cut heat loss, power consumption, and carbon emissions. The government will disburse 200 million euros (US $242 million) to help accelerate the plan by training building professionals on new energy efficiency standards and providing aid to families who need to do home renovations. The government also plans to set aside some 4.8 billion euros (US $5.8 billion) to renovate public-sector buildings, including schools and hospitals, to make them energy efficient.

France will not increase carbon emissions as it reduces its reliance on nuclear energy in coming years. Currently, nuclear is about 75% of the country's energy mix. Grid operator RTE has prepared scenarios for cutting nuclear energy’s share from 56 percent to 11 percent by 2035, and an additional scenario on reducing nuclear reliance to 50 percent by 2025. Environment activists complain that the government has withheld scenarios cutting back nuclear capacity the most, when it held workshops this month to prepare for the public debate.

At the "One Planet" summit, two years after the Paris Agreement, there will be a focus on how public and private financial institutions can mobilize more money to address climate change. This focus is a result of the United States pulling out of the Agreement, leaving a $2 billion funding gap in the Green Climate Fund. Funding is not on track, with developing countries noting that the richer countries have not met funding goals that would allow them to switch from fossil fuels.

The new French president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to rid France of the weedkiller glyphosate within three years. This goal is viewed as too ambitious by the European nation's farmers. Many French farmers believe that even five years is too short a time frame because there is currently no economically viable alternative that is more environmentally friendly. Glyphosate was determined to cause cancer by the World Health Organization in 2015.

France plans to pass legislation this year to phase out all oil and gas exploration and production on its mainland and overseas territories by 2040, becoming the first country to do so. France has previously stated its goal to discontinue the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by the same year, and President Macron wants to make France carbon-neutral by 2050. The decision is, however, largely symbolic because France produces only about one percent of its consumption. The country will continue to import and refine oil.

Last week at the C40 Mayors Summit, four cities—Athens, Mexico City, Madrid, and Paris—committed to ban diesel-fueled automobiles in their cities by 2025, a move applauded by many environmental supporters. Diesel-fueled vehicles had previously been championed for emitting less carbon dioxide than gasoline-powered vehicles. The ban comes after local governments became attuned to the local pollution effects of diesel vehicles, in particular nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which manufacturers have been slow to resolve.