Ln September 30, Les Républicains (LR) president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez announced his decision to withdraw his region from the “zero net artificialization” (ZAN) system, on the grounds that it would be “ruralicide”. From the Climate and resilience law voted in 2021, this principle is struggling to be implemented, in particular due to strong reluctance from local elected officials. This attitude suggests that Mr. Wauquiez and his colleagues misunderstand the ins and outs of ZAN, as well as the opportunities it can bring to rural areas.
What is ZAN? The idea is simple: by 2050, each project to artificialize a space must be compensated by the renaturation of an equivalent space, the Ministry of Ecology defining artificialization as “the lasting alteration of all or part of the ecological functions of a soil, in particular its biological, water and climatic functions, as well as its agronomic potential through its occupation or use”.
Thus, it is not a question of prohibiting all artificialization. However, the idea is to limit it, and to impose, for projects deemed essential on the basis of a rigorous cost-benefit assessment including environmental damage, compensation considered at least equivalent. It is essential to understand that compensation is a minimum objective to consider, and that the first priority is to preserve what exists.
An imperative of sustainability
The word is spoken: resilience. The principle of reducing artificialization is not a metropolitan bobo’s fad, but rather an imperative of sustainability. Rincreased flood risksloss of agricultural productivity, erosion of biodiversity, less carbon absorption, heat islands, etc. harmful effects of excessive artificialization are numerous and well documented. If the “zero net artificialization” system imposes a constraint on artificialization decisions, it is first and foremost to reduce these impacts and allow a necessary better sustainability of our lifestyles.
Beyond these direct effects, we believe that a thoughtful and integrated application of the ZAN can have the induced effect of a reduction in territorial inequalities. This idea is based on two complementary observations: rural areas experience a lack of access to public and private services, suggesting a need to revitalize their economic and social attractiveness; the most disadvantaged and densely populated urban areas suffer from a lack of access to green spaces and nature.
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