A report from the OECD to measure the gap between promises and results
Every week, the Lab selects a news item deemed particularly interesting and relevant and presents it in a few lines. This week, the Lab focuses on the release of the OECD report on French environmental policy. What lessons can be drawn from this decadal review?
" Good, but can and must do better "
As highlighted by Rémi Barroux, a journalist at Le Monde, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report on France's environmental policies and commitments, submitted this Monday 11 July to Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, the General Commissioner for Sustainable Development, emphasizes the existence of significant room for improvement [1]. The purpose of this evaluation, conducted every 10 years for each OECD member country, is to move beyond mere announcements to more distantly measure the gaps between political commitments and actual achievements. 33 recommendations regarding green growth and the improvement of governance and environmental management are thus formulated in the report just released. What are the main lessons from the work done by the OECD for France?
What progress has been made since 2005?
However, the gap between the ambitions stated in the texts and the results actually achieved is also highlighted by the OECD report.< While overall, France has succeeded in decoupling GDP growth from environmental pressures, policies regarding air quality or water pollution have not yielded the expected results. Similarly, some successes, such as the reduction of GHG emissions, cannot be directly attributed to public measures but rather to underlying trends like the country's deindustrialization. Here are some points of vigilance (or "challenges") highlighted by OECD economists [4]:
Regarding biodiversity, the OECD report highlights that France has strengthened its position as an international leader, notably by supporting the creation of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and tripling public development aid dedicated to biodiversity since 2008. As noted in the OECD report, France has also made progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, freshwater withdrawals, and stabilizing municipal waste production.
Finally, the year 2015 was marked by France's particularly proactive action in the environmental field with the organization of COP21 and the adoption of the Paris Agreement as well as the adoption of the energy transition law. The upcoming adoption of the biodiversity law could also represent a significant advancement in French environmental policy and its regulatory framework. The overall assessment of developments in the environmental field over the past ten years is therefore quite positive, and the French advancements are numerous.
Strong ambitions and goals far from being achieved
The development of ecological taxation constitutes a cross-cutting recommendation of the OECD report.< The issues related to taxation appear in analyses concerning transport, agricultural policy, or biodiversity. For example, fuel taxation favors diesel, which exacerbates air pollution. The greening of taxation is seen by the OECD as a key area of action, especially since the weight of ecological taxation in the French economy remains quite low (2% of GDP compared to an average of 2.4% for OECD European countries) and the polluter pays principle, which has constitutional value, is not well reflected in fiscal measures.
- Air quality<: the predominance of diesel in transport leads to exceeding European thresholds for carbon oxide emissions as well as exceeding alert thresholds for human health regarding air pollution from ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and fine particles.
- Soil artificialization: artificialization is increasing twice as fast as the population.
- Pesticide use: a 29% increase in the use of plant protection products was estimated between 2008 and 2014, while the Ecophyto Plan aimed to reduce them by 50%.
- Energy transition: the commitments made by France regarding renewable energy production will be difficult to meet. The goal is indeed set at 23% of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2020, while the share of renewable energy is currently just under 15%. More generally, the OECD recommends that the implementation of the energy transition be better clarified and framed (which should also be facilitated by the multiannual energy programming).
- Biodiversity: France has not succeeded in curbing the loss of biodiversity on its territory as anticipated by the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Similarly, the degradation of wetlands continues. The organization also emphasizes the need to develop economic indicators for ex-post evaluation to monitor biodiversity protection and restoration projects. The work done under the biodiversity law and the strengthening of the "avoid, reduce, compensate" sequence should, however, allow for progress.
A focus on environmental taxation
However, tax reforms are delicate to implement (one remembers the abandonment of the eco-tax), especially when they challenge well-established economic and political orientations such as the advantage given to diesel or support for intensive agriculture and the agri-food industries that depend on it.< These OECD recommendations should help give more weight to the reform proposals that the Committee for the Green Economy may formulate in the future. However, it should be noted that the OECD report has no binding character and aims to encourage self-assessment by countries regarding their policies.
, particularly through the identification of the main negative effects of taxation and the assessment of its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.
As part of its participation in the RESCCUE program (Restoration of Ecosystem Services and Adaptation to Climate Change), Vertigo Lab is working on the theme of ecological taxation at the level of New Caledonia<, particularly through the identification of the main negative effects of taxation and the assessment of its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. This project will support the New Caledonian government in reforming the most harmful fiscal measures to ecosystems and biodiversity.
The work of Vertigo Lab on ecological taxation
As part of its participation in the RESCCUE program (Restoration of Ecosystem Services and Adaptation to Climate Change), Vertigo Lab is working on the theme of ecological taxation at the scale of New Caledonia, particularly through identifying the main negative effects of taxation and assessing its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. This project will support the New Caledonian government in reforming the most harmful tax systems to ecosystems and biodiversity.
References
- 1] See the article published in Le Monde: "The OECD points out the shortcomings of France's environmental policy," Rémi Barroux, 11 July 2016.
- [2] See the synthesis of the 2005 OECD report: https://www.oecd.org/fr/env/examens-pays/34463371.pdf
- [3] See the January 2013 Senate information report on this subject: http://www.senat.fr/rap/r12-290/r12-2901.pdf
- [4] A synthetic version of this report is available here: http://www.oecd.org/fr/environnement/examens-pays/LEssentiel%20France%20WEB.pdf
