France preaches, but does it not apply?
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The government of Emmanuel Macron is at a crossroads because of the denunciation of four NGOs for alleged climate inaction
When referring to the historic Paris Agreement signed by 175 countries in 2016, including the European Union, everything would point to France being a strong supporter of measures that seek to mitigate climate change, but the actions of Oxfam, Greenpeace NGOs, the association Notre affaire à tous, and the Foundation for Nature and Man (FNH) show the opposite.
Leer en español: Francia predica, ¿pero no aplica?
In a record time, in 36 hours, they gathered a million signatures to denounce the lack of commitment in the emission of gases greenhouse. This has astonished the French government before the voices that have risen since last December.
"The lack of action by the State in the fight against climate change translates into a negligent lack of the State when it comes to respecting its obligation to protect the environment, health and human security," argue the association Notre affaire à tous and the Foundation for Nature and Man (FNH) in statements gathered by El País, the latter founded by the former Minister of Ecological Transition of Macron Nicolas Hulot.
The demand, according to the French Press Agency (AFP), indicates that France "does not respect its short-term objectives, whether in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, developing renewable energy or improving energy efficiency ".
The situation falls like a flock of cold water to the government of Macron, since climate change has been one of the flags during his term. This comes at a difficult time before the protests of the 'yellow vests', a movement that is against the rise in the prices of fuels, one of the biggest causes of greenhouse gases.
"We are issuing a legal complaint against the French Government because we think it is not doing enough to tackle climate change. That is why we are trying to sue the French government, to make sure that it increases its ambition in terms of fighting climate change, which is not what is happening at this moment, "Jean-François Julliard, director of Greenpeace France, told French media.
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The objective of the plaintiffs is to get a 'squeeze' on the government and the companies that produce the most carbon dioxide (CO2) in France, as it happened in 2015 in the Netherlands, where the NGO Urgende filed a complaint with the State to reduce the 25 percent CO2 emissions before 2020.
The ecologists are trying to take more drastic measures before the accelerated arrival of the climatic change, since also in the United States a group of young people initiated a demand in Oregon demanding to the government the reduction of gases greenhouse effect.
"We are determined to move on to the second stage, taking this appeal before the Administrative Court and preparing acts of citizen mobilization," the complainant NGOs of the French government declared.
LatinAmerican Post | Jorge Hernández
Translated from "Francia predica, ¿pero no aplica?"
