A Creole proverb reminds us that if a dog has four legs, it can only take one path. And that sums up the whole challenge facing the Minister of Ecological Transition with “zero net artificialisation”, the now famous ZAN. This principle, which stipulates that the smallest square meter taken from the land must be compensated by its equivalent returned to nature, must be implemented from 2050, as set by the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021. First stage: d by 2031, the consumption of natural space must be reduced by two. This is, for the Minister, the only way to fight against urban sprawl.
But, four months before the senatorial elections, this means reassuring exasperated local elected officials, finding common ground with the senators who are urging the government to respond to concerns and, above all perhaps, taking care not to raise “ZAN yellow vests”, according to the expression of Valérie Létard, a centrist senator from the North. A challenge.
On the principle of the law of 2021, resulting from the citizens’ convention for the climate, everyone agrees: we must stop concreting land. The minister clearly explained it to the Senate in March: artificial soil no longer stores CO₂, it becomes a sterile space for biodiversity, it disrupts the water cycle by preventing infiltration and groundwater recharge. and promoting runoff.
However, in five decades, France has artificialized more than in five hundred years, regularly reminds Mr. Béchu. Hence the need to slow down the trend – half a dozen European countries are also committed to the same approach (Germany, Switzerland, Spain, etc.). Even if, specified the minister to the senators: “We are not going to stop building. We have 170,000 hectares of wasteland, including 50,000 in tight areas, and 1.1 million vacant homes. »
“The mayors can no longer do anything”
The principle is simple, but the implementation devilishly complex. In small towns, the ZAN torments the mayors. They are anxious at the idea of having to, one day perhaps, announce to owners that their land is no longer buildable. And convinced that they will no longer be able to build anything on their territory, neither business nor housing. Senator Les Républicains (LR) of Haute-Saône, Alain Joyandet hears about it every day. “You have to fill your empty teeth…”, they say to the mayors. As soon as you want to build on three plots 1 kilometer from the village, you can’t. And I’m not even talking about housing estates. »
You have 70.18% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.