French carbon tax to raise €4bn for green energy by 2016
2016-05-08
France is set to introduce a carbon tax from next year that should generate €4bn from 2016 to fund investments in renewable power and energy efficiency.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault made the announcement over the weekend outlining the details of the tax confirmed by President Francois Hollande on Friday, and also revealed plans for a levy on nuclear power plants without saying how much that would raise.
The carbon tax will be levied on all fossils fuels in proportion to the emissions they generate and would let France invest an extra €1bn from 2016 towards cutting fossil fuel use by 30 per cent by 2030–on top of nearly €4bn already spent annually on renewable energies and €1bn on household renovation, Ayrault said.
"Fossil and nuclear energy will thus be mobilised to allow us to meet our energy transition objectives," Ayrault told a conference in Paris.
He was also keen to point out the tax will have no impact on households in 2014, reflecting the government's tricky balancing act between meeting its green goals and increasing resentment among businesses and households over a rising tax burden.
Hollande was elected last year after pledging ambitious energy reforms and said on Friday that the cut in fossil fuel use was needed to meet France's overall goal of halving energy consumption by 2050. He has also vowed to cut France's dependency on nuclear power from 75 per cent to 50 per cent by 2025, and intends to close down the country's oldest plant, Fessenheim, by the end of his term in 2017.
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