SDG 13 - ’Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’ - is made up of 5 targets and 8 indicators. It covers measures of resilience and adaptive capacity to hazards and disasters, measures of integration of climate change indexes into national actions and measures on education on climate change. The two means of implementation indicators focus on the mobilization of resources and the promotion of raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management
GOAL 13: CLIMATE ACTION Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Where does France stand ?
Domestic challenges
In 2022, France produced 0.82% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a 2.8% share of world GDP, making it one of the least GHG-intensive. These emissions mainly come from the transport, tertiary residential, agriculture and industrial sectors. The carbon footprint of household consumption remains high given the GHGs generated by the production of imported goods.
But, without a drastic reduction in GHG emissions, the economic, social and environmental costs of climate change will be considerable. It is therefore imperative to take action to limit climate change as much as possible.
However, mitigation policy has strong interactions with economic, social and environmental realities, which need to be anticipated if France’s ecological and solidarity transition is to be as successful as possible.
A 2015 report by the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) points out that globalisation is making the reduction process more complex from an economic point of view. According to the CESE report, the effort required to reduce emissions in France is likely to penalise the French economy in the short term, particularly certain emitting sectors subject to global competition, if support measures are not implemented.
As for the social issues involved in reducing emissions, the CESE again points out that these relate in particular to changes in jobs, qualifications and work organisation. It is also about living together, and society’s ability to respond positively to a collective challenge.
On 17 August 2015, France adopted the Energy Transition for Green Growth Law which aims to allow France to contribute more effectively to the fight against climate imbalance and to strengthen its energy independence, while ensuring access to energy at competitive costs. This law also introduces the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC), revised in 2018-2019, which sets out a trajectory for reducing greenhouse gas emissions up to 2050 and short- and medium-term targets: carbon budgets.
In concrete terms, France’s objective is to achieve a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, by sharing the effort between economic players and households, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
108.6 grams of CO2 were dispersed on average for every kilometre driven by a vehicle in France in 2021 (compared with 114.2 in 2015) (Eurostat).
France’s actions
The Climate and Resilience Law of 22 August 2021 translates some of the 146 proposals of the Citizens’ Climate Convention selected by the Head of State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, with social justice in mind. It sets out a number of objectives that contribute directly to the implementation of the SDG dedicated to the fight against climate change.
The State and regional authorities are leading the way in reducing GHG emissions under the “Exemplary State” and “Exemplary Administration” circulars. The “eco-responsible public services” scheme involves 2.4 million public sector employees and the 20 measures adopted cover a wide range of issues:
- sustainable mobility for employees,
- the elimination of single-use plastic,
- a zero deforestation purchasing policy,
- more environmentally-friendly food,
- reducing energy consumption in public buildings,
- the elimination of plant protection products,
- the circular economy and controlling the carbon footprint of digital technology.
France is making a full contribution to the fight against climate change at international level.
Action in favour of the climate and the environment is naturally a priority for France’s external action. Since COP21 in Paris in 2015, France has continued its commitment in all areas of climate diplomacy. It supports multi-player coalitions (governments, regional authorities, civil society and the private sector) and takes part in all multilateral discussions on the subject.
France committed to increasing its public climate funding in developing economies from €3 billion in 2015 to €5 billion in 2020. This target was reached and exceeded in 2019. Since then, it has increased and extended the commitment it made at COP21, raising it to €6 billion a year between 2021 and 2025, including a third for adaptation. France is meeting its commitments: by 2022, it had provided €7.6 billion in climate funding, including €2.6 billion for adaptation.
Internationally
On the multilateral front, France will contribute €1.61 billion to the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund, the main international fund for financing the fight against climate change. France has also increased its contribution to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) by 40% and the resources provided by the State amount to €132 million, in addition to the French contribution of €300 million over the period 2022-2026.
France also contributes to the World Bank’s climate funds, the Adaptation Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol.
To accelerate the mobilisation of financial resources on a global scale, France held a summit in June 2023 for a new global financial agreement, bringing together 120 State delegations. The summit developed an ambitious renewed vision of multilateral development banks, detailed in a declaration supported by 52 countries and 11 international organisations.
The “One Planet” coalition is also a French initiative launched at a summit held in 2017, which already aimed to speed up the mobilisation of financial resources on a global scale.
France also recognises the need to support developing countries in their low-carbon energy transition and in adapting to the inevitable effects of climate change. As part of the Action Agenda, one of the pillars of the Paris Agreement, France is fully participating in several major international initiatives launched at COP21 under French leadership, including:
- The International Solar Alliance, which aims to massively reduce the cost of solar energy in the 121 countries located in the intertropical zone;
- And the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative (CREWS), an operational multi-donor trust fund that strengthens the capacities of multi-risk early warning systems for extreme weather events in least developed countries and small island developing states.
The French Development Agency (AFD) has also set itself the ambitious target of ensuring that all its projects are 100% compatible with the Paris Agreement. This commitment is in addition to another already existing commitment by the group: to ensure that 50% of annual financing goes to projects that have a direct beneficial impact on the climate. To take climate co-construction with partner countries even further, the AFD is setting up the "2050 Facility", which is dedicated to developing long-term low-carbon and resilient development strategies that all countries are encouraged to produce by 2020, in line with the COP21 decisions.