A historic drought, more than 60,000 hectares of forest burned, three waves of heat waves and deadly thunderstorms in Corsica. The effects of climate change are visible, and the French can no longer ignore them. However, an OECD study (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) published in July and shared this week by several media reveals that only 57% of French people believe that “climate change exists and is due to human beings”. A figure which would imply that 43% deny this assertion, which is also the subject of an “unequivocal” scientific consensus.
While many of our colleagues have interpreted these percentages as the demonstration of climatoscepticism, the main author of the study, Antoine Dechezleprêtre, explains another reality to 20 minutes. The study cited by BFM TV Where TF1 News is more interested in the acceptance of public policies to fight against climate change by populations. Conclusion: these 43% are therefore not convinced that the man has nothing to do with it, they are simply misinformed. “There is a general lack of knowledge of the causes and consequences of climate change, develops Antoine Dechezleprêtre. And the French get stuck on a lot of fundamentals. And they fail more than their European neighbors.
Moreover, according to a Opinion Way survey “One in five French people does not believe in global warming”. Even if it is already too much, it is far from “almost one in two French people”. Moreover, according to an Ipsos poll published this Thursday, climate change has become the second concern of the French behind inflation, “its highest level ever measured”, specifies the research director, Mathieu Gallard. And the OECD confirms this: “The French respondents are aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of climate change and recognize the need to fight against its progression, at individual and collective level. »
More or less popular public policies
However, this does not mean that the population is ready to make real sacrifices on a daily basis. Despite Emmanuel Macron’s call to put an “end to abundance”, can we count on the good will of the French to restrict themselves? It will depend on climate policies. For example, respondents are mostly in favor of “public investment in carbon-free infrastructure, the obligation of thermal renovation accompanied by subsidies, or the banning of polluting vehicles in city centres. The one that seems to pose the least problems? Fly less often.
Other proposals are less popular, such as “the carbon tax, the ban on thermal cars or the tax on red meat. Finally, the measures that will have an impact on daily life. “As far as daily behavior is concerned, there is a minority ready to make an effort”, summarizes Antoine Dechezleprêtre, senior economist at the OECD, and overall “France is the least ready of the developed countries questioned to change its habits”. . An “attachment to the way of life that all developed countries seem to have”, also notes Marta Torre-Schaub, research director at the CNRS and the University of Paris-1, interviewed by 20 minutes. “And we will have to accept a change and that public policies go further,” she adds.
This data nevertheless evolves with the parameter of knowledge. Take the carbon tax for example: if it is one of the least appreciated measures – we remember the unprecedented mobilization generated by this idea (the “yellow vests”) – it becomes more popular “when ‘we explain the effects it can have on CO2 emissions and on the household budget, ”qualifies the economist. “Respondents say they are ready to adopt certain low-carbon behaviors, as long as they represent a valid substitute for their usual lifestyles”, adds the study.
Equity between rich and poor
Another parameter is highlighted in the OECD study: six out of ten respondents consider it “very important” that the wealthiest also change their behavior so that they themselves are willing to change theirs. Thus, in several responses to the study, there emerges a desire for equity between the less well-off and the more well-off and this impression that public policies can benefit the richest and not the most modest.
“There is this impression that the rich could continue to afford what would become a luxury: beef, big cars, etc. The majority of respondents do not want the rich to be able to get away with even paying more. There is therefore a call for public policies that are fair to everyone and therefore a preference for prohibition rather than taxes,” explains Antoine Dechezleprêtre. “There will always be a divide on the economic sacrifices that individuals have to make in their daily lives, as long as there are different standards of living in society,” adds Marta Torre-Schaub.
From there to prohibit certain luxuries such as private jets? EELV deputy Julien Bayou intends to table a bill to “ban” them. The government rejected the idea. “It would be in the domain of the symbol”, estimates the economist, for whom these private jets are undoubtedly “marginal from the point of view of total greenhouse gas emissions”. Still, “the symbol, it still plays”. “We will have to think about this kind of measure because there is a very strong rejection of inequalities and we will not succeed without support for public policies, without the support of the population”, specifies our expert.
Urgent measures
Without a boost from the executives, we will therefore not have to rely on individual will to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Ipsos study published last December. We have certainly understood the urgency, but find it difficult to change our habits. However, it is a race against time that is announced because “the longer we delay implementing ambitious policies, the greater the effort to accept them will be,” warns Marta Torre-Schaub. Today, “we have taken a certain delay as a result, the sacrifices will have to be greater in a shorter time”, she adds.
According to our experts, the public authorities must take urgent measures “with greater economic aid”, according to the research director at the CNRS. And to add: “We have to stimulate the population so that they want to change their way of life, it will be very complicated if we consider the drop in purchasing power or the standard of living observed in recent years. , especially in large cities. So, on the climate side, to put an end to the bamboche, the State will have to put its hand in its pocket.