In Paris, participants in the climate march demanded a – H. Sergeant / 20Minutes
- According to Sunday Newspaper, the presidential promise of a referendum to include the climate in the Constitution may not be successful before the end of the five-year term.
- Immediately denied by the Elysee, this news was however at the heart of the discussions in the procession of the march for the climate, organized this Sunday in Paris and everywhere in France.
- For many demonstrators, the possible abandonment of the referendum is perceived as an “umpteenth” renunciation of the executive in terms of ecology.
“Emmanuel Macron has just given us one more reason to walk today,” smiles Anthonin. At 18, this young activist of Europe-Ecology Les Verts (EELV), sunglasses screwed on his nose and sign in hand, has not missed the latest political upheavals on the climate law. According to Sunday Newspaper, Emmanuel Macron would have renounced the constitutional referendum, however promised to the members of the Citizen’s Convention for the Climate (CCC).
When questioned, the Elysee Palace nevertheless assured that the modification of the Constitution to include environmental protection was “in no way buried”. Gathered this Sunday in Paris, Place de la République, for a new march for the climate, the demonstrators see it, them, a final “renunciation” of the Head of State. Disappointed by the environmental policy pursued since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, they are calling for a “more ambitious” reform “up to the current climate challenges”.
An opportunity lost or gained
“This referendum was an obligation to act in favor of the climate for all future governments. If Macron thinks that the climate law will be enough for us, while he has completely ignored the proposals of the citizens of the convention, he is wrong, ”said Anthonin. At his side, his friend Anaïs, 19, adds: “For me, if he abandons the referendum, he loses an opportunity to legitimize his environmental policy”. Posted a few meters behind his activists, the leading candidate (EELV) for the next regional elections in Ile-de-France, Julien Bayou, sees this renunciation as a political opportunity for his party.
“Emmanuel Macron has already given up on almost all the proposals resulting from the Citizen’s Climate Convention. He continued to brandish the constitutional referendum to defend his commitment to the environment and in the end, he may not do it. Well, what he does not want to do to protect the environment, we will put in place at the regional level ”, launches the national secretary of the environmental party.
“Chronicle of an advanced retreat”
Also present at Place de la République, the deputy for Deux-Sèvres and former Minister of Ecology, Delphine Batho, denounces a “political maneuver”: “This referendum is the chronicle of an announced retreat. By refusing to register
the principle of non-regression in the Constitution, this amendment is of no use anyway. We have seen this with the reintroduction of neonicotinoids, without this notion of non-regression, a law is enough to go back, ”she points out.
These setbacks, in terms of ecology, still go through the throat of Lili *, 45, a demonstrator from Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Val-d’Oise). With her friends, this member of the citizen collective “Cèdre” who campaigns for an ecological transition at the municipal level, regrets the lack of “ambition” of the government in terms of the environment: “The content of the proposals of the citizens’ convention was completely distorted during the debates on the climate law ”.
And the uncertainty that hangs over the holding of the constitutional referendum demonstrates the lack of political will at the top of the state, Judge Sylvie. “Once again, we are talking about it and not doing it,” says the resident of Cormeilles. Far from being demobilized, the participants in the march now intend to increase the pressure on the Head of State. Julie, 21, a communications license student warns: “If Macron definitively renounces his promise, he can be sure that when it comes to voting for the presidential election next year, we will remember it”.
* First name has been changed