This post is taken from the newsletter ” Human warmth “, sent every Tuesday at 12 p.m. Every week, journalist Nabil Wakim, who hosts the Chaleur Humaine podcast, answers questions from Internet users on the climate challenge. You can register for free here:
The question of the week
“Hello, I listened carefully to your series with politicians, and I was very annoyed by the defense of the A69 motorway by Mme Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition [au moment de l’enregistrement, elle était encore ministre]. She explains that the destruction of trees will be compensated for by replanting trees and even says that in the end this highway will have no impact on the climate. Hence my question: can a new highway be carbon neutral? or is it greenwashing? » (Question asked by Mélanie at chaud [email protected])
My answer : No, a highway cannot be “carbon neutral”. Agnès Pannier-Runacher defended this highway, believing that its construction could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is an uncertain bet, which has no scientific basis. (To find out more about the A69 project, here is a short guide to discussing it produced by my colleagues at Décoders)
1/What did the minister say on the A69 motorway to “Human warmth” ?
In the public recording broadcast on January 11 (which you can listen to again herethe passage in question is at 18e minute), the then minister of energy transition defends the construction of the A69 motorway between Toulouse and Castres, which is contested by environmental activists and climate scientists (see here the letter from 1,500 scientists). She explains : “When we look at the project closely, the question is “how do we do this project”? What compensation do we provide in terms of biodiversity? How many trees are being planted nearby and how many trees will resist global warming? These are also issues. » Then she adds: “The main challenge is to build these infrastructures and to be able to actually use them to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. »
To be perfectly honest, the minister is not saying that the highway will be carbon neutral. Moreover, Atosca, which is building this road, speaks rather of a “low carbon construction site” and a highway “low ecological impact” (see their commitments here).
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