No, GHG emissions haven’t fallen twice as fast under Macron’s mandate

During the debate between the two rounds on Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron boasted that he would have doubled the pace of emissions decline during his five-year term. So, true or false?

During the 3-hour debate between the two rounds on Wednesday, 18 minutes were devoted to ecology. Emmanuel Macron was given the chance to take stock of his five-year term there: he assured that he had done more for the climate than any of his predecessors. During his tenure, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reportedly fell twice as fast as before.

The information has been verified by: mediacities† relying on CITEPA (the reference organization in France for the calculation and analysis of greenhouse gas emissions), mediacities drew her conclusions: the outgoing president’s claim rests on a miscalculation. Indeed, the 2021 estimate is based on a figure that only takes into account metropolitan France. In contrast, from 2017 to 2020, it is based on figures for metropolitan France and the overseas territories. So it compares what is not comparable.
If GHG emissions fell during Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term (-4.1% in 2018, -1.9% in 2019 and -9.2% in 2020 according to CITEPA figures), it could be partly due to the health crisis, not to structural changes . Please note: greenhouse gas emissions depend on several factors, such as international and European agreements or even… the weather!
Race results: climatic or climate hypocritical, it won’t be enough to let the numbers say what you want to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement!

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