FWill it help the biggest polluters in France? It is approximately in these terms that government action plans aiming to support the last French bastions of what is commonly called “heavy” industry, those processes which transform raw materials, are criticized in their ecological transition. in raw materials at the cost of massive and… carbon-intensive energy consumption: the “club of 50” (the 50 most polluting industrial sites) alone represents nearly 10% of CO emissions2 from the country.
And as debt once again becomes a major issue, is it wise to subsidize an industry that has its roots in coal mining? Should we not, on the contrary, take advantage of the concentration of these big polluters in a few areas (Dunkerque, Fos, Le Havre, Sélestat, Feyzin, Pont-à-Mousson) to get rid of them once and for all? Why continue to support these sectors?
The answer is simple: it is first and foremost an issue of sovereignty and resilience. Recent crises have revealed the fragility of value chains scattered across the four corners of the world. Result ? The deconcentration of production currently located in a small number of countries has become imperative. And heavy industry is no exception: without it, no infrastructure, no consumer goods… No medicines, computers or servers either: the fierce struggle between States to attract foundries of semiconductors reminds us to what extent the activities of this sector are strategic.
Then, it would be particularly hypocritical to relocate electro-intensive production elsewhere on the planet: “Look, here we produce clean… even if we consume dirty! » It would be nice to continue complaining about plastic in the oceans while having all our toys produced in China, one of the biggest ecological scams there is. Worse: with the energy mix of countries like China or Vietnam, relocating upstream activity there means massively increasing the global carbon footprint. Not to mention the impact of transport.
Circular model
For the same reasons, relocating would amount to depriving oneself of the levers that make it possible to transform an industrial upstream: we will not succeed in carrying out research and development to decarbonize cement and steel or to replace plastic and oil while ignoring actors in these sectors. New materials will create eco-design to accelerate the circular industry, which is the real solution to environmental problems.
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