France has unveiled its decarbonization strategy for the industrial sector, which is responsible for 20% of the country’s CO2 emissions.
The strategy was presented by President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, November 8, during a meeting with the leaders of some of the most carbon-intensive industrial sites in the country.
Industry in France offers some 3.2 million jobs and represents more than 10% of the nation’s GDP, and the decarbonization strategy offers clear emission reduction targets for the sector that last year contributed to over 20% of France’s total carbon emissions.
The strategy has a particular focus on the need for investments in greener industry, with the goal being to halve the sector’s CO2 emissions in the next decade.
Hence, the steps outlined in the proposal would contribute to a total 5% reduction of France’s overall emissions.
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To finance the scheme, Macron announced that €5 billion (~$4.98 billion) have already been secured, €4 billion (~$3.98 billion) of which will go towards projects based on the quality of their decarbonization efforts, instead of being distributed on the basis of the amount of reduced CO2 equivalent.
The remaining €1 billion (~$995 million) will support the deployment of low-carbon technologies and will help 26,000 small and medium-sized enterprises over the next 5 years.
Some of the main priorities of this funding include carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), the production of low-carbon hydrogen, and biomass.
One critique of the recently unveiled decarbonization strategy, however, is that no refineries are among the selected sites in France, although they are considered to be some of the most intensive polluters.
Read more: France Will Invest $6.2 Billion In Decarbonization Technologies
