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Investing in Sustainable Development

France is on the Move

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Nuclear power plants currently produce around 80% of France’s electricity, making for greater price stability and energy independence. France also has lower electricity and natural gas prices than Germany, while electricity remains cheaper than in the UK. For energy-hungry projects, these are significant advantages.
 

France's "Green New Deal" 

France has taken active steps towards building a competitive and sustainable economy through the “Grenelle” Environment Round Table Talks in July 2007, which sought to address the environmental and economic challenges associated with global warming. The “Grenelle" Acts were passed into law in 2009 and 2010, formalizing a fourfold reduction in real terms by 2020 in the consumption of energy and raw materials.
 
The key reforms include:
  • Agriculture: doubling the tax credit for organic farming in 2009.
  • Construction: new energy efficiency standards to be applied to new buildings from 2012.
  • Transport:reducing CO2 emissions by 20% with a view to bringing them back down to 1990 levels by 2020.
  • Electricity: ending the sale of incandescent light bulbs from 2010, ahead of EU targets.
  • Ensuring energy independence for French overseas territories and safeguarding their biodiversity.
France has devoted €5.1 billion of its €35 billion "National Investment Program" to sustainable development, making it one of the leading nations in the European Union for environmentally friendly measures. France’s goal is to remain a world leader in low-carbon energy by maintaining its lead in nuclear energy and developing its renewable energy capacity.
 

At the cutting edge of innovation 

In order to remain at the cutting edge of innovation, €1 billion in additional lending was made available to fund “Grenelle” research projects over three years (2009-2011), particularly renewable energy and power projects. A number of dedicated clean technology innovation clusters were created in June 2010.
 
France is also the host country for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project, which involves designing and building an experimental fusion reactor capable of producing virtually clean and unlimited energy for industrial use.
 
Key figures:
  • 23% share of renewable energies in energy consumption by 2020 (vs. 10% in 2009).
  • Over €1 billion between 2009 and 2013 for the “renewable heat production” fund.
  • Attractive feed-in tariffs (€0.3555/kWh to €0.4063/kWh) for photovoltaic electricity generated by building-integrated solar panels.
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