France's changing energy mix
The Macron government faces the difficult task in 2018 of juggling competing demands for France's energy cocktail
The past year was an interesting one for French energy policy. The presidential campaign offered a wide range of options, from right-wing enthusiasm for nuclear power to left-wing plans to phase it out within 25 years. After the election, Emmanuel Macron's newly designed government didn't waste time: it unveiled a long-term vision with a "plan climat" (climate plan) designed to fulfil a commitment to the Paris Agreement and reach carbon neutrality around 2050. A law was passed accordingly to ban oil and gas exploration and production by 2040, a mostly symbolic move, given France's huge dependence on imported hydrocarbons. A more concrete and immediate step was the inclusion of a sharp carbon
Also in this section
17 January 2025
Supply glut or supply deficit are both plausible outlooks, with tariffs and sanctions among the key risks that could swing the pendulum
17 January 2025
European Commission is on its way to meeting clean energy goals, but energy security concerns and higher costs may give it second thoughts
17 January 2025
The CEO of QatarEnergy has highlighted the potential impact a new EU directive could have on energy exports to the continent
16 January 2025
The government’s resource nationalism is aggravating the NOC’s debt position and could yet worsen if also tasked with the decarbonisation shift
